Pool maintenance

Of the three valves, one will be for the return from the skimmer bucket at the opposite end of the pool from the skimmer impulsion jets; one will be the return from the sump at the bottom of the pool; and one is return from the vacuum pipe you plug the vacuum cleaner hose onto.

You need to close the vacuum valve when you're not actually vacuuming the pool. When you do vacuum, open the vacuum valve and close the other two. At the moment, you've got all three valves open, which is incorrect.

The multi-port valve is correctly set for circulation, and you leave it in that position when vacuuming.

I prefer to brush the pool, to dislodge any muck that might be sticking to the grout, then leave it to settle before vacuuming.

If you end up with cloudy water, put a couple of flocculante tablets in the skimmer bucket and leave the pump running overnight. This effectively makes the sand in the filter sticky, so that fine particles are trapped rather than passing through the sand. Some people use liquid flocculante, but the muck then settles on the bottom of the pool and needs vacuuming up.

When the needle on the pressure gauge moves out of the green zone, change the multi-port valve to waste and run the pump for a minute to backwash the filter to send the accumulated muck to your soakaway. Then turn it to rinse and run for just a few seconds to settle the sand in the filter back down again.

Do NOT move the multi-port valve while the pump is running.

The coarse filter with the clear top, just before the pump, looks OK at the moment. Keep an eye on it, and if twigs and other debris build up in there, carefully remove the top and clean it out.

I assume you've got a test kit, and will regularly check and adjust the pH and chlorine levels.

(Geoff - if you see this post, please correct any errors I've made).