tado921
06-03-2008, 04:07 PM
First, I know about the reasons filter sand should not need to be changed and I agree with them. However, that being said...
I inherited a 20X40 IG Vinyl when we bought the house. This being my first pool, I researched and by a stroke of luck found this site. I have used BBB from the beginning, and I could tell that the previous owners had been getting poolstored (is that becoming a verb now? kinda like screwed...anyway) from the leftover bottles of "stuff" laying around. Also, that first season was a bear getting the chemistry right after them putting all that junk in it.
Anyway, once I got the water lined up everything ran well, but I found that I was constantly battling algea, and I could see stuff blowing back in the pool when vacuuming sometimes, and opening was a month long ordeal every year. After further reading, I checked the sand level, removed the sand and checked the laterals and such, and put it back in. Nothing changed, but I still felt I was struggling too hard to keep the bad stuff away.
So, before opening this year I bought new sand and changed it out. Well, I can tell you that opening was done in a week, I used half the chlorine I normally use, and spend much less time cleaning and brushing. The only thing that changed was the sand.
My point here is that while filter sand NORMALLY would not ever need to be changed, if everything else has been tried and there are still problems, it may be worthwhile to give it a try. This was probably caused by the previous owners somehow, so I don't think the sand was "worn out", just that something they did caused the sand to be way less efficient that it normally would be.
I'm thinking it may be a mistake to tell someone the sand never needs to be changed. I would say it doesn't need to be changed unless all other avenues have been tried and failed. It cost me less than $50 and about an hour to do it, but it has made a big difference.
Tad
I inherited a 20X40 IG Vinyl when we bought the house. This being my first pool, I researched and by a stroke of luck found this site. I have used BBB from the beginning, and I could tell that the previous owners had been getting poolstored (is that becoming a verb now? kinda like screwed...anyway) from the leftover bottles of "stuff" laying around. Also, that first season was a bear getting the chemistry right after them putting all that junk in it.
Anyway, once I got the water lined up everything ran well, but I found that I was constantly battling algea, and I could see stuff blowing back in the pool when vacuuming sometimes, and opening was a month long ordeal every year. After further reading, I checked the sand level, removed the sand and checked the laterals and such, and put it back in. Nothing changed, but I still felt I was struggling too hard to keep the bad stuff away.
So, before opening this year I bought new sand and changed it out. Well, I can tell you that opening was done in a week, I used half the chlorine I normally use, and spend much less time cleaning and brushing. The only thing that changed was the sand.
My point here is that while filter sand NORMALLY would not ever need to be changed, if everything else has been tried and there are still problems, it may be worthwhile to give it a try. This was probably caused by the previous owners somehow, so I don't think the sand was "worn out", just that something they did caused the sand to be way less efficient that it normally would be.
I'm thinking it may be a mistake to tell someone the sand never needs to be changed. I would say it doesn't need to be changed unless all other avenues have been tried and failed. It cost me less than $50 and about an hour to do it, but it has made a big difference.
Tad