First-time pool owners, just moved into a new home and we're slowly winning the battle against a neglected pool.
We had dirt and sand washing in from outside, but we've fixed that. The remaining issue is a layer of sand and fine silt settled across the bottom of the pool.
We picked up a manual vacuum head from Leslie's — it has wheels and a single suction port in the center. We're connecting it through the skimmer. The problem is it seems like suction is only happening directly at that one small port opening. The vacuum head is maybe 14–16 inches wide, but it's clearly only pulling up material from the tiny area right at the suction hole — not across the full width of the head.
So when we’re vacuuming on waste mode it’s expelling a lot of water in the process. We don’t have a shut off for the main drain, so it’s making this process super slow.
We have a DE filter. Is this normal for this style of vacuum head? Do we need a different type of head for sand/silt, or is there something we're doing wrong with the setup? Any advice appreciated.