Fed up with cartridge filters...

OK,

I seem to have an issue with my filter cartridges.

I have to clean them very often or my pressure through the pump is horrible and the pump basket develops a huge air pocket.

My pool seems to suffer from this lack of good flow as well.

I use SoftSwim, the pool had biguanide when we moved in, so being new to the pool, I kept it as is.

I don't know how old the cartridges are, but it would seem that the 2 I need will run approx $100. Will that fix things? As filters get old do they restrict flow?

The other solution is to switch to a sand filter. I assume it would have to sit in front of the pump on the intake side, but I'm new at this.

Please sound off, new cartridges or switch to sand filter?

I believe the cause of your troubles is the Bacquacil--it sounds like you may have the dreaded white mold threads and they are clogging it. The sand will probably go longer, but I gather you'll have to clean out the filter a couple of times a season.

Of course, if you switch to chlorine, you don't have those problems. Many cart owners with chlorine only clean the cart every month, or every two months. Sand owners don't ever have to do more than backwash--I'm four years on my sand and haven't cleaned it yet. My fellow mods will tell you my water is clean and clear, too.

In a biguinide pool carts need to be cleaned weekly, soaked monthly, and replaced yearly. It's not the cart, it's the buguinide. In a chlorine pool carts need to be cleaned every month or two (actually many can go much longer before a pressure rise but I would recommend cleaning at least every 2 months to make the cleaning job easier) , they need to be soaked yearly, and can last up to about 5 years with proper care. Sand does not fare much better in a biguinide pool with the biguinide manufactuers recommending monthly sand cleaning and yearly replacement of the sand! Biguinide works by causing the bacteria to literally explode and this forms a gooey substances that is sometimes referred to as 'baquagoo'. The biguinie is a polymer and this causes this stuff to clump together, much like a clarifier or floc would. This is what is clogging up the filter. With chlorine the bacteria are oxidized (burned up) and this does not happen.

Is there a way to get rid of the white mold threads?

New cartridge may only be a temporary relief and I don't know if I want to make the change to chlorine mid-season...

What's a good guesstimate on cost for the switch for a 15000 gallon pool?

Probably 50 to 75 bottles of bleach at $1.00 to $1.40 per. It may be somewhat more or less but from following the conversion threads here I think that's in the ballpark. You'll also have to change the cartridges once the conversion is done.

I've yet to hear of someone who wasn't happier after converting and I'll bet no one else here has either.

Now you just exceeded my knowledge.

I've always used chlorine.

The conversion will use lots and lots of chlorine--if bulk prices on 5 gallon carboys of 12.5% are competitive with bleach, it's more efficient to use them, but it won't change the amount you need (figuring 1 gallon of 12.5 is about the same as 2 gallons of 5.25% to 6%).

When you are done, your cart will probably need to be replaced, but sand DEFINTELY must be changed out.

I clean my cartridge every month, but it really hasn't been that bad yet(BBB user). I don't think I'd be in much of a hurry to spend the money on a new cartridge until you convert. Why ruin a new cartridge if it's only going to need to be replaced when you decide to convert.

With the problems and troubles that it sounds like your devolping...I wonder if it would be less work (for the remainder of the year) to just convert now.

happy swimmin',
dan

Well, I found the right cartridges at a local store and that made all the difference.

I will try to clean the old ones with bacqua-clean and keep them for the conversion if/when we do it towards the end of this year or beginning of next season.

I have a pool party in 8 days and I'll be out of town for 6 of those days.

This seemed like the most viable solution at the time.

Thanks for the feedback.

Once you convert you will need to replace the filter again most likely

From personal experience over 3 years, I will agree with all of the comments above that bacquacil is the root cause of the problem. I was also going to convert to a sand filter, or run sand and cartiridge filters in parallel (only one on at a time). I got tired of the ritual on constantly cleaning the cartridge filter, and I never had much success with the filter cleaner or muriatic acid cleanup, just an environmental mess afterwards.

The best trick I found to get improved filter performance was to wash the filter down and let it dry out - I usually had several filters on tap - for a week or so.

I've had no problems with the cartridge filter since converting to chlorine and abandoned the idea of a sand filter - and I've only had one cartridge filter for this season. The filter pressure never strays from 10 psi - I do wash it down once a week ...