First Post for a First Time Pool Owner!

Hello,

I live in NJ and was super excited to purchase our forever home with a pool. The pool is not huge, but just enough for a first timer...it's a 21ft above ground, roughly 10k-11k of water. This summer has been quite the learning experience, and there have been recent bouts of stress and anger over my pump. The flow coming out is extremely low. I have a DE filter and have done all the steps-bump a number of times before starting, backwash, open up and clean off the fingers but the pressure is still low. The original pump was probably around 8-10 years old so I figured (as well as the guy from the pool store) that the motor is probably losing power and needs replacing. They mentioned that a 1 horsepower motor is sufficient for my size pool, but even after hooking it up I still have weak pressure! The weak pressure and low circulation is what I think is causing the constant battle with algae. I've shocked the heck out of the pool from time to time, but I'm unable to vacuum well because there is such weak pressure. Am I off with this? Do you think I need a more powerful motor? I was thinking about switching to a sand filter. My father always talks about his in that he's had it for 20 yrs, hasn't changed the sand, and the pool is always clear. I'd love to hear back from some seasoned vets!

I hate to tell you this but I doubt there was anything wrong with your pump. You should always run a filter with a greater capacity than your pump. Increased flow reduces performance and can damage the filter. An even bigger pump may well blow your filter apart.

I think you should be looking for an obstruction in the system or a problem with your filter. I am not the DE guy here but I wonder if you have too much DE for the filter or if som passage is blocked.

DE filters have no reason not to run perfectly well, and filter better than a sand or cart filter. But if you need to replace it, be sure to replace it with a filter large enough to handle your new pump.

If you repace your filter, go with a sand filter in my opinion. Does a good job and WAY less trouble than DE or cartridge. (I will tell you that all of the moderators and many of the support team members have sand filters.)

While I'm a sand filter guy, too (12 seasons, same sand) and wouldn't PERSONALLY have anything else, I think a properly sized, operated and maintained filter of any type, Sand, DE or Cartridge, can give excellent performance. It's all a matter of preference.

I believe our resident pool chemistry genius, Chem_Geek, prefers a cartridge filter, generally the least-loved of the three.