New to owning a pool, have some questions

[PoolDoc]

Slightly higher maintenance at cleaning time; lower pool and water maintenance.

Pools with DE filters are less likely to get algae, because DE filters algae. But if you DO get algae it's much, much more difficult to clean up, because live algae stops up DE filters, and dead algae will load them up pretty fast.

[nwin234]

Good to know, thanks for the heads up.

The pool guy came by today (normally comes on Wednesday or Friday...maybe he didn't come last week is all I can think of, I didn't get an answer out of him). Anyways, his English isn't the best, but he told me something is wrong with the filter itself today. He brought his own and him and his coworker were working more on the pool than usual, so that was good to see. He said that he'll have to come by next week because he thinks something is in the DE tank itself? I couldn't make out much of what he was saying, but he said that sand was coming out of the filter if that makes any sense? When I thought it was a sand filter, it made sense...but now that I know it's a DE filter, I'm at a loss. I'm thinking I'll keep him around a bit longer to get all this sorted out!

[PoolDoc]

Both sand and DE filters use media (sand, or DE - diatomaceous earth, which is literally algae skeletons => Wiki) to filter the pool water.

In sand filters, the sand is kept in the pool by strainers, now usually plastic, often called "laterals". These are usually arranged at the bottom of the filter like spokes of a wagon wheel. If these get cracked, sand can leak back into the pool.

In DE filters, the DE powder is retained on fabric very much like Dacron sail cloth, which is supported on thick plastic grids. Again, if the fabric membranes get punctures, tears or failed seams, DE powder can leak back into the pool.

In your case, he may be saying "sand" but is meaning "DE".