If you notice sand at the bottom of the pool and you own a sand filter, that might mean the filter is leaking sand into the pool.
Although still often referred to as "sand filters", modern filters used ground quartz or glass sand as the filtration medium. If what you have at the bottom of your pool really is sand, then it is dirt and should be vacuumed out. On the other hand, if it is the filtration medium, you can scoop it up with your hands. It will fall to the bottom of the pool directly under the return pipe.
If you are unable to remove it with your hands, vacuum it and send the water into the street, where you'll see the glass sand coming out of the vacuum hose.
If glass sand is leaking into the pool, then the standpipe or laterals in the pipe are probably cracked or broken and need to be replaced. To see if that is indeed the case, change your filtration medium (consult our YouTube video to see how it's done).
Once the glass sand is removed from your filter, you can check the standpipe and laterals for cracks or damage. If they seem to be in good working order, it may mean that not only has the filtration medium been worn down to dust after many years of service, but it is no longer filtering contaminants and is also leaking back into the pool.
