Why are there air bubbles in my pool?

If you’re seeing your pool run and there’s air blowing back into the pool through the returns here are some answers. There can be an air leak going through the front end of your pump on the suction side either through a loose union or cracked glue and one of the fittings Going into the front of your pump. There could also be a need to lube an O-ring on your pump basket or a couple of air release valves at the bottom that need new O-rings. If you have air coming back through and floating up through the main drain, this could indicate a very dirty filter.

I do wanna say for the record that it may look like there’s no water at all in your pump basket if it is fully primed, even if it’s running what you were seeing is simply that it’s full of water which is why there’s no air bubbles in the pump giving it the illusion that the pump is empty. Simply turn off your pump and open the pump basket to check and see if this is the case. This is a good sign that your pool and the equipment have sealed lines to and from the pump.

Let’s consider another option that I’d spoken earlier. You would have a loose union going into the pump or a fitting with cracked glue. It would be as simple as to simply hand tighten or take channel locks and screw in the union to make it tighter. If for whatever reason it doesn’t get any tighter don’t over tighten it could just be that the O-ring needs to be replaced and or lubed. If it’s cracked glue on one of the fittings such as a 90 or a coupling, you can simply take a water hose and put it over those fittings and see if the air bubbles in the pump go away because the cracked glue will cause the water to be sucked in through the pipe removing the air bubbles. The simple fix is to let the pump run if that’s the case and take a clear PVC glue and run it over the fittings, causing the suction to pull the glue into the fitting, sealing the leak.

There are air release valves and drain valves at the bottom of your pump. Sometimes the O-rings can dry rot and cause air to be sucked up into the pump. Also, the pump basket has an O-ring that might need to be lubed and or replaced if it’s flattened And or dry rotted. If there were air bubbles coming in by the main drain, simply clean the filters and that should resolve the issue. I hope this helped, if for whatever reason that is not a resolve to the issue, it would be a good idea to always call a repair contractor for your pool, communicate and schedule a service call.