If You're "thinking" It May Be Time To Change Sand In Filter

then it probably is the time:) case in point..i have a sand filter that the sand seemed quite soft if i moved my hand carefully through it and no issues in filtering,but i don't know when it was changed..so ,i ordered some zeobrite and today was a fine today to change it before i thought about spending half my sunday in a hot pool shed too much..i was very surprised at 2 things. 1) the amount of gray stringy crap in the old sand, once you got about 6 inches below the surface...2) how semi-chunky some of the sand was about halfway down. i imagine it would have taken a season or 2 yet to calcify..maybe not..but i'm sure glad i did it as a proactive measure..interestingly enough, my filter pressure was 16 lb before the change to zeobrite, 15 lb after. my filter has always run about 15 lb except when i didn't backwash enough.

Normally, you don't have to change the sand in your filter. I must disagree with Tenax. Unless you are having a problem with your filter, don't maintain it, or just switched from bacquacil, you should not have to change it.

OTOH, filter sand is cheap (unless your pool store is ripping you off) so, if you are careful not to damage your laterals, it's not expensive to do.

But I'm 4 years into my sand without a change and my water is crystal, crystal clear. Sand filters better as it gets older. I use a little DE everytime I backwash, and a skimmer sock.

But mainly, I keep my water clear, clean and balanced.

you're welcome to disagree, carl...i'd rather be safe than sorry...most of my motivation to change the sand was based on how long the sand was in the filter given it was prior to my ownership. and, there seemed to be from what i've read here a solid benefit to using zeobrite over sand in terms of the filtration quality so if for no other reason, that made it worth it..honestly, if i hadn't bought the zeobrite, i likely would have just checked it each year and hoped for the best:) it also showed me that my prior tecnique for inspecting is not sufficient. gray stuff aside, moving my hand through the sand was not sufficient to feel the amount of clumping, in spite of using filter cleaner according to instructions all of 3 weeks ago. (clumps were breakable when vacuuming them out of the filter, but certainly not soft)

beyond that, i don't have enough experience with knowing what is sand going hard or not, and i don't think most people would.

Well, how do you like the zeobrite?

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Originally Posted by tenax

you're welcome to disagree, carl...i'd rather be safe than sorry...most of my motivation to change the sand was based on how long the sand was in the filter given it was prior to my ownership. ...

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I would say this is the key: changing the sand because of the prior ownership. You have NO idea what goop and garbage that previous owner tossed in. I hadn't realized that. By all means, then, changing the sand is appropriate.

I'm coming around to the view that if you are not the first owner of a sand filter, then upon acquiring it, the first thing you should do is change the sand. And since you're doing it, check the laterals. Kind of like changing the oil immediately after buying a used car.

But if you are the original owner, and have followed the guidelines of pool and filter care we suggest, from day 1, then I believe you have no reason to change your sand.

Since I get such excellent results from my 4 year old sand, with a little DE added, I see no reason to either change my sand or go to Zeobrite.

agree with all, carl. definitely did inspect the laterals (sta-rite.and they and the main tube are all in great shape!)

sevver, don't know what to expect from the zeobrite yet. i do like that it didn't weight as much as all that bloody sand:) i've only had the zeobrite in for the day and keep my pool pretty clean regardless and it stays quite clear from shallow to deep end so i don't know if i will see anything..maybe a bit more "sparkle" to the water? (my chem # are all good, but the water seems 'dull" to me to this point anyway). what i didn't like about the zeobrite was the strength..or better put, lack of strength of the bags it's in considering the weight...the first bag i took right out of the box and put over the filter top and my fingers holding the bottom punched 3 holes in it..i lost about 2 lb of sand to the floor but recovered most of it:) the 2nd bag i left in the box and lost very little. i was sure glad i sealed off the main pipe before i put it in. i was surprised that the zeobrite instructions did not mention to do that. thankfully, i was clued into it by this website. just used some electricians tape over top, then a band of it around the top and ripped it off after.. worked great!

used a wet vac to clean out the sand and was glad i did. i started with like a laundry scoop and scooped about 4 handfuls and thought this is ridiculous. even with the wet vac, it was at least a 2 hour job as the wet sand get on clogging things up...but, a half day work really for a long time of service can't be complained about. if i had more patience, i would have made up a hose with connector, opened the drain valve on the tank and tried to blow out the sand. then again, i'm not sure that anything more than water would blow out of that valve..it's not specifically a "sand drain" to my knowledge on the cristal flow sta-rite filter. 200 lb of sand now sitting in a garbage can and can't convince my wife to put it in her flower bed:)

You would not gte me to put it in my flowers either. lol

Just put about twenty five pounds in your trash a week until it is gone. I do it with dirt and stuff all the time, sod especially since I am always making the beds bigger. My garbage men probably hate coming to my house.

The drains in sand filters usually have something to prevent sand from draining. In my Hayward it's a 'short' lateral. When they assembled the filter at the factory they forgot to put in this short lateral. On the first drain for winterizing a lot of sand came out. I just dealt with it. Siphoned when I removed the valve assembly. When I removed the sand to do some other work I made a lateral of the right size PVC pipe and cut fine slits in it. Yeah...could have gotten one from Hayward but this was less of a hassle. Bottom line, trying to wash sand out the drain won't work. Shop vac like you used is the easiest I think.
Al

hmmm..garbage a bit at a time..maybe i'll put it in all those empty bleach jugs:)

P, i think you are right..the drain is not simply a straight out opening..it appears to have a top and a gap all the way around in between , but i suspect it's either not big enough to let sand through or would get bunged up anyway.