While cleaning out my tub for a fresh fill I managed to break the bypass valve in the bottom of my filter cage... I was using a shop vac to suck the remaining water out of the system since the tub is mounted in a deck and I didn't want to go underneath to open the drain. I believe my filter is a Rainbow RTL25 or RTL50.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I would go about replacing this valve. I see that the replacement part is available online at many shops but it seems as if the original was glued in place. The Rainbow part number for the vavle is R172684 if that helps.

I have noticed that there are also plugs offered to shunt this connection in the filter and force all water through the filter. Can this be done with no ill effects to the pump or plumbing?