How Do I Vacuum a Pool Manually?

Manual vacuuming is straightforward once you get the hose primed correctly. Attach the vacuum head to your pole, fill the hose completely with water so no air enters the pump, connect it to skimmer suction, and then work slowly in overlapping passes.

The two things that separate a good job from a frustrating one are purging the air out of the hose and moving the head far more slowly than feels natural.

What you need

• Vacuum head matched to your surface (weighted brush head for plaster and gunite, smooth wheeled head for vinyl liner)
• Vacuum hose long enough to reach the farthest point of the pool with slack to spare
• Telescoping pole
• Skimmer vacuum plate, or a dedicated vacuum line if your pool has one

Step by step

1. Brush the walls and steps first, then let the pool sit for an hour so loosened material settles to the floor.
2. Empty the skimmer basket and the pump basket. Vacuuming into a full basket is asking for a lost prime.
3. Assemble the vacuum head on the pole and attach the hose to the head. Lower the whole assembly to the pool floor.
4. Prime the hose. Feed the free end of the hose down in front of a return jet and hold it there until water pushes all the air out and the hose stops bubbling at the vacuum head. Alternatively, feed the hose into the water hand over hand until it fills.
5. Keeping the primed end underwater, cap it with your palm, bring it to the skimmer and connect it to the vacuum plate over the skimmer basket. Keeping your hand over the opening is what stops air from getting in.
6. Check that suction has grabbed. The head should hold to the floor with noticeable pull.
7. Vacuum in slow, straight, overlapping passes, working from shallow to deep. Overlap each pass by about half the head width.
8. When finished, shut off the pump, disconnect, drain the hose, and clean both baskets.

If you see a stream of air bubbles coming out of the return jets while vacuuming, you have an air leak. Stop and re-prime rather than running the pump dry.

Vacuum through the filter or to waste

Through the filter is normal. Use it for everyday dirt, leaves and grit.

To waste is for dead algae, very fine silt, or a heavy sediment load. On a multiport valve, turn the pump off, set the handle to Waste, then restart. That sends everything out the backwash line instead of through the filter media. Your water level will drop as you work, so keep a hose ready and stop before the level reaches the bottom of the skimmer mouth. Rebalance chemistry after, since you have replaced part of the water.

Never move a multiport valve handle while the pump is running. That will tear the internal gasket.

Common mistakes

Moving too fast is the biggest one. If a cloud kicks up behind the head, you are going roughly twice as fast as you should be. Slow down and let the head do the work.

Other frequent problems include forgetting to clear the pump basket first, leaving the hose kinked around a corner, and vacuuming with a dirty filter already at high pressure. Check your pressure gauge before you start. If it is already 8 to 10 psi over your clean baseline, clean or backwash the filter before vacuuming, not after.

Manual vacuuming in the Florida Keys

Without screen cages on most Keys pools, we deal with a debris mix that a robot handles poorly. Palm frond fibers, seed pods and bougainvillea petals are light, plentiful and prone to clogging automatic cleaners, which is why manual vacuuming stays a regular part of pool care down here rather than something you do a few times a year.

Iguana waste in particular should be vacuumed to waste rather than pulled through the filter, both for sanitation and because it will stain plaster fast if it sits.

Salt air is also hard on hardware, so rinse your pole, head and clamps with fresh water and store them out of direct sun. Aluminum poles pit and cam locks seize surprisingly quickly here otherwise.

Go slow, keep the baskets clear, and manual vacuuming turns into a twenty minute job instead of an afternoon of fighting lost prime.