Can I use sand from Lowes

[wendylolex]

How do I clean my sand?

[Sherra]

I haven't put new sand in it since I bought it in 2003.

My bad...I got you mixed up with another thread where someone was changing their sand every year.

But Waterbear did give a good idea of cleaning the sand. Leslie's carries "sand filter revitalizer" for $15.99/qt on their web site. You can get the same type of stuff (sand cleaner/revitalizer/etc.) at any pool store. You just pour it into your skimmer while the pump is running (or whatever other directions the bottle might say). You MIGHT even be able to find some at Home Depot/Lowe's/Ace/Wal-Mart/Sam's/Costco/you get the picture.

[waterbear]

The directions are on the bottle of filter cleaner. I know that aquachem, glb,and robarb make them and I am sure other companies do as well. Once again I am not a sand filter expert (use cartridge myself) but my understanding is that organics will build up on the sand after time and lead to clumping and channelling of the medium and reduced filtratration. I assume it is a similar process to soaking a cartridge in an acidic degreaser. From the aquachem website they give these instructions for their product:

"Sand Filter
Backwash first. Then clean the filter sand with AquaChem Filter Cleaner as follows. Close the valves into and out of the filter. Add the product full-strength to the filter top through the inspection port, anode port, sand fill or pressure gauge hole (whichever is applicable). After 1 hour, open valves and backwash the filter thoroughly. Resume normal operation."

Some of the sand filter owners on here might be able to advise you better on the process.

[matt4x4]

If you "feel like you're backwashing all teh time", should that not be an indication that your sand IS in fact doing it's job?
I'd worry if I DIDN'T have to backwash......
You should backwash when your pressure changes by about 5 lbs.
If you want to get your water crystal clear, you may have to do teh following:
First off, get the algae out and the pool vac'd clean as you can, if the water is foggy/dull, put in some clarifier or floculant - this essentially bunches the fine particles that the filter is unable to get individually. This doesn't always help get them out, but it does drop them to the bottom, to get them out, put 1-2 cups of DE into the skimmer, wait 5 minutes - pressure should rise 3 lbs, then vacuum the pool. With DE you will need to backwash about twice as much as without.