I cleaned the cartridge filters today. Put the filters back in, fitted the tank and put the lid back on. I cleaned the skimmers and the basket at the tank, too. I turned the pump on but it will not push water. What can I do or check to get the pump moving water again?

Is your pump self-priming, maybe it didn't prime after you put lid back on?
Edit to add, does yours have valves going into the pump that have to be turned off to clean filter basket and then turned on, which should prime pump?

Could be trash in the impeller intake. Fairly small holes in there, grass, leaf debris, etc can get through the basket, a split basket or just when you are cleaning out the basket, things get behind it and pulled into the impeller.

If you can get water into the basket area and either see water flowing, or it's full but not really moving water fast/ building pressure, I'd say check the impeller next.

It could be the impeller because the filters were pretty dirty and full of seeds, etc. How can I look at the impeller? Do I have to take the pumping unit off? Do I need to call someone out? I don't want to do that but if I have to I will. Thanks.

was it pumping before you opened up the filter cartridge housing? be sure to burp the housing of course.

It's typically not viewable without separating the pump from the basket housing. Generally speaking, it's easy enough to check and clean yourself. If you can separate and clean the filter housing, you should be able to do the same with the impeller housing. It can be a little frustrating putting it back together if the o rings are stretched/ loose fitting. Make sure you have some o ring grease just in case. I always get frustrated trying to slide them back together as it's usually tight quarters and awkward angles to pull the two back together.

There should be a band or locking mechanism on the impeller housing that you can remove to separate the two. Pull the pump, the impeller should be the spinning disk attached to the pump. Water enters into the center of the disk, leaves from openings along the outer edge. These ports are what get clogged up. Use water or air pressure to blow them out. Out the o rings in place and master them back up, reverse of removal. Like I said, typically straight forward, but depending on the setup, you might have a couple hiccups, hopefully not. Maybe find a you YouTube video first?

I have seen where the impeller is worn away/ plastic gone enough that it doesn't force water as well.

If your equipment is below your pool, you'll want to turn off the valves first as well, possibly same as cleaning the filter.

The equipment is not below the pool. I'm going to try it again when I get home. If it doesn't work I will probably bite the bullet and call someone. I don't want the pump off all week and I hate working in the dark. Plus, the damned pool is a bit green and my wife keeps griping about it.

I am assuming the water level in the pool is OK but just in case, make sure it comes to at least the mid-level of the skimmer opening. If it's too low, you will suck in air through the skimmer and the pump will lose (or fail to establish) prime.

If the water level is OK, try taking the lid off the pump inlet basket. Make sure the gasket is in good condition as a leaking gasket (or lid not locked on) will cause it to suck air and preventing the pump from priming. Leave the lid off and put your water hose in the basket, turn it on full for about 2-3 minutes (to fill the suction line) then quickly put the lid on and try the pump again.

Update? Curious minds want to know.

I did try filling the basket at the pump but maybe not long enough. When I turn the pump on it moved a tiny bit of water in the window but not enough, The pool has a suitable amount of water. I worked on cars my whole life but I've never taken one of these pumps apart and I don't want to make things worse. I'll give what you suggested a try and see what happens. The tank has some pressure because when I turn the relief valve I hear air escaping. This has to be connected with my cleaning the filter cartridges and it's never happened before. I think junk is in the impeller.

Well, I've tried filling the basket with water several times but to no good result. You can see water moving through the window above the basket but the jets aren't jetting and the skimmers aren't circulating water. I'm just not sure what to try except for calling someone out but even there I've no idea who to call.

Where are you located? Pool service companies do this.

If water is flowing slowly, and normally the pump primes itself easily, it's likely something with the impeller. Again, the only way to know is to remove the pump from the pump basket/ impeller housing. Think of a faucet aerator that's plugged up with debris and skies the faucet flow. It's moving, just at a reduced rate.

In the mean time, try shocking the pool and brushing to help with the green color.

I'm in Katy. I'm going to call someone to day but I don't know if they work on weekends. I'd think they're not too busy this time of year. If I take the pump off the impeller how hard is it to put back together?

The only time this has happened to me in the past I did not have a good seal somewhere. Usually the basket o-ring

When my impeller was broken the motor burnt up first.

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The only time this has happened to me in the past I did not have a good seal somewhere. Usually the basket o-ring

When my impeller was broken the motor burnt up first.

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Same here, o-ring or lid not 100% in the locked position.

Only thing I've had go wrong with a pump (so far) is having to replace a leaking seal.

This video may help you DIY:

Good video to check out the impeller. Assuming you are just clogged, you don't have to remove the impeller from the pump, just separate the pump with the band or bolts (beginning of the video) and check the impeller slots from the inside and outer edge of the impeller wheel. I've seen seeds, grass, pebbles, etc. clog the holes up. If you had that type of debris in the filter, it's safe to say that's in the impeller. If there is large trash there, inspect the pump basket for and cracks/ damage that is allowing the debris to get into the impeller and filter.

if you got some trash in it, it's possible the impeller is broken. that happened to me when a bunch of leaves got into the filter basket and i didn't catch it in time.

I finally had someone come out on Monday. There was an ozone unit installed when the pool was put in. There was a leak where this thing plugged into the pump. That was the cause of the problem. They charged me $85 to find the problem and fix it. I count myself as lucky.

Well, that's much easier than taking the pump apart and finding out that's not your problem! Glad you got it fixed, and reasonably!

That makes sense. Anytime I have ever had a problem with one of the pumps not priming properly, it has always been a result of something in the system not sealing properly.

You shouldn't have married it.

Well it's sucking again. Now I just need to get it clean and clear....

If it stopped once it will stop again. It clearly doesn't love you any more. Trade it in and get a new one.

Believe me that has crossed my mind many time because it also quit taking my shock....

I was having some algae problems from late last summer. I could see air bubbles in the jets and I think that was from the suction leak from the ozone injector. If air was being injected into the pool this would feed the algae right? Plus I don't think the chlorine was being injected at the proper volume. Does any of this make sense?

Any air injected would rise to the surface.

Algae growth means you had something organic in the pool (could be grass clippings, leaves, anything), coupled with not enough free chlorine to deal with it. Add in the heat of the summer sun, you get algae.

Phos free is your friend. Especially in the heat of summer.

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Phos free is your friend. Especially in the heat of summer.

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disagree, but everyone has their own way to manage. but regardless, it isn't the air causing the algae, it's your chemical balance.