Filter Media--by Mike K

[Mike K]

I have a 33' round above ground pool and have used a DE filter for the last 10 years. The filter is worn out so Im shopping for a new one, I'm also thinking about getting a chlorine generator (hayward pureplus unit). Question is do I change to sand or a cartrige type filter? I like the ease of the cartridge cleaning, and have no knowledge of how to use a sand system. Can anyone give me the facts or pros and cons of each system and does one work better with the chlorine generator than the other?

[aylad]

I don't know if one will work better with a SWCG than the other, but I do know that sand filters are probably the easiest of all to deal with--once the pressure starts to rise, you simply switch the handle to backwash, turn the pump on for a minute or two, then switch the handle to rinse, turn pump back on for a minute, then switch back to filter--and you're back in business!! No sweat. My sand filter does a great job on my pool, but if you want to filter finer particles, you can always add a handfull of DE to the sand filter like my fellow mods do, and get the quality of DE without the price....

Janet

[Watermom]

Some of our members lover their cartridge and DE filters, but for me, that is way too much trouble. Like Janet said, sand filters are a piece of cake. All of the mods are in agreement on this one; we all have sand filters on our pools.

[madwil]

I also use a sand filter- and add some DE to it; effectively making a DE filter from my sand filter, but only using 1/2 lb of DE each cycle...

[CarlD]

There is no "best" filter, as long as it's properly sized to your pool and pump. Yeah, I like my sand filter. It's what I have, what I know, and I can make my water sparkle with it, just as well as any DE or Cart filter. But my dad had DE and HE wouldn't have anything else--because that's what HE knew.

It really comes down to trade-offs. DE is tougher to maintain, backwashing requires re-filling with DE powder and you use a lot. But it has the finest filter media, and, when empty, you can put the filter away easily. Can't do that when the filter is full of 200 lbs of sand!

Carts require almost no maintenance, have almost as fine a filtering as DE, but OH! when you have to clean the cartridge. Some folks have tricks that make it easy. Some describe it as worse than Dante's Inferno!

But we are all biased towards sand. We all add DE (about a half-cup) to our filter and the filtering gets much finer quickly. I'm still on the 10 lb box I bought 4 years ago! We all use "Skimmer Socks" or their rivals in the skimmer. This pulls TONS of junk out reducing frequency of backwash. Also, several years ago I noticed my filter seemed to work better when my pump was on low speed. So I asked Ben about it and he worked out that using the lower speed improves the sand's filtering quality--so the bigger the sand filter relative to the pump, the better it will perform. Oh, and the older and "dirtier" the sand gets, the better it performs. Under normal usage you never have to replace your sand. I'm in my 9th season with my sand, Poconos is in his...14th?, 15th? 16th? Doesn't matter.

My final "trick" is...I'm lazy. So lazy I'd rather have a robotic pool cleaner that climbs the walls than vacuum and brush. Almost all of them (if not all) of the Aquabot/Blue Diamond/Dolphin Dynamic type double as super-filters. Their filters are as fine as DE and in the course of cleaning the pool they can turn the water over twice, and getting what my sand filter didn't get.

There is one last trick that I do NOT use as my water is already crystal clear: That's a "Slime Bag". I believe it goes on the return and filters pretty much as well as a robotic's filter. I've not used, seen or installed one, but have heard good things about it.

Carl