How to vacuum a pool

Manual vacuuming is straightforward, but the order matters and there is one step almost everyone skips that determines whether the water is clear afterwards or cloudy.

What you need

Step by step

  1. Empty the baskets first. Skimmer basket and pump basket. A vacuum pulls hard, and a half-full basket kills suction before you have finished the deep end.
  2. Brush the walls, steps and any corners. Work top to bottom so everything ends up on the floor. Pay attention to the shaded side, which grows the most.
  3. Wait. This is the skipped step. Give it at least half an hour, ideally an hour, for what you brushed loose to settle. Vacuuming immediately just chases material around the pool in suspension.
  4. Assemble and purge the hose of air. Attach the head to the pole and the hose to the head, then feed the hose into the water and hold the free end in front of a return jet until bubbles stop coming out of the vacuum head. The hose must be completely full of water before it meets the skimmer, or you will send a slug of air to the pump.
  5. Connect to the skimmer. Keeping the hose end underwater, plug it into the skimmer suction point or the skim-vac plate. If your system has multiple suction lines, close the others so all the pull is at the vacuum.
  6. Vacuum slowly, in overlapping passes. Long, deliberate strokes, roughly half overlapping, working from the shallow end toward the deep end. Slower than feels natural. If you can see a cloud rising behind the head, you are moving too fast.
  7. Watch your pressure gauge. If filter pressure climbs noticeably, stop and backwash or clean the cartridge, then continue. Pushing on with a loaded filter accomplishes very little.
  8. Pack up and restore the system. Disconnect, drain the hose, reopen any suction lines you closed, empty the baskets again, and check the water level.

When to vacuum to waste instead

If you are clearing dead algae after a chlorine treatment, or very fine silt after a dust storm, set the multiport valve to waste rather than filter. That material is small enough to pass through sand and come straight back into the pool, so filtering it is wasted effort.

Two cautions. Vacuuming to waste sends pool water down the drain, so watch the level and stop before it drops below the skimmer mouth, and top up afterwards. And never move a multiport valve while the pump is running.

Is it worth automating?

Manual vacuuming costs nothing but time, and done properly it is the most thorough clean your pool will get. The honest case for a robot is not that it cleans better than a careful human, it is that it happens every week without anyone deciding to do it.

If you are vacuuming weekly through summer and it takes you forty minutes, that is roughly thirteen hours across a season. Whether trading that for several hundred to a few thousand dollars is worth it is a personal call, but it is the right way to frame the decision. If you do go automatic, our guide to the three cleaner types covers which suits which pool, and the running-cost register shows what each adds to your power bill.

Common questions

How long should it take to vacuum a pool?

Twenty to forty minutes for a typical Australian backyard pool once you have the hang of it, plus setup. Rushing is the main cause of a cloudy pool afterwards, because moving the head quickly lifts settled silt back into suspension.

Should I vacuum to waste or through the filter?

Through the filter for normal debris. Vacuum to waste when you are clearing dead algae or very fine silt, because that material passes straight through a sand filter and returns to the pool. Vacuuming to waste also drains water, so top up as you go.

Why is my pool cloudy after vacuuming?

Usually one of three things: you moved the head too fast and stirred silt back up, your filter is due for a clean or backwash, or you vacuumed fine material through a sand filter that cannot catch particles that small.

Do I need to brush before vacuuming?

Yes, and it makes a bigger difference than most people expect. Brushing the walls and steps first knocks attached growth and settled dust onto the floor where the vacuum can reach it. Wait for it to settle before you start.