I am using a sand filter with a 1.5hp pump and it run.s 24/7 throughout the summer. I do see the pressure rising and backwash about every 4 days. I also use skimmer socks. I don't know if they are really do anything that my filter wouldn't but they make me feel better. I did a test on my tap water and it has a CH of 80. I will admit that this year when I opened the pool I took a water sample to the local pool store and was waited on by a new person. He sold me the typical stuff ( chlorine, shock, algecide, and sodium bicarbonate) but he also said I need to add something that gets REALLY hot when it is mixed with water. I dont remember what he sold me or why I needed it but in the past they have never led me wrong so i trusted them. This may have been something that raised my Calcium hardness. This experience at the pool store and doing some research in these forums convinced me all I needed was a good test kit and I could do all this myself.


Thanks for the fast response