WOW guys. Thank you so much for all the help. This is exactly what I was looking for. Some people with real world experiences to talk to and figure out how to tackle my issue. Through your information, and some research, it really is between the sand and cartridge filters. We do have very high electric rates in my area and keeping my electric bill down would be great, but our water bill is tied to our electric bills, so a lot of the bill comes from water use as well ( I say this because the electric will be higher with using the sand filter and using the water to backwash the sand filter will show up on my electric bill again). My area does not make a distinction between septic water and yard water. All water used is taxes as though it is going to the septic system and increases the electric bill. Weird I know. Enough about that, just giving you guys an idea of where I am coming from. So some more questions just to understand:

- If I go with a cartridge filter (Pentair Clean and Clear) and I get the one with the 1/2 HP pump, can I put any size filter in there? Meaning I would need 120 sq. ft. filter for the pool size, but the website that list the specs on the filter say the 1/2 HP pump has an effective filtration of 50 sq. ft. Do I just put a 120 sq. ft. filter in the same housing? It appears as though that housing size is 18'". It looks like 33" is the size I would have to go with to get the 125 sq. ft. of filtration and it comes with a 1 1/2 hp pump. It also looks as though there is a 33" housing that has a 1 hp pump, but it is not 2 speed. They do make a 1 1/2 hp pump (2 speed) with a 33" housing. So many choices on these things.

- If I go with sand, which I still like the idea of also(seems to be more work weekly, but less detailed work like cleaning a cartridge) and I have always had a problem with Algae in my intex pool for whatever reason and my pool will be closed for the winters. ( I live in Eastern NC by the way) Not sure if that makes a difference or if someone could tell me if I should be having a problem with Algae in this part of the country (I would lean towards operator error honesly) This pump looks good (thanks for listing it above mas985), but they also have a 2 speed with all the same specs. Is 100 lbs of sand enough to filter a 12000 gallon pool.

PNSD0035DD1160 Product Pump
3/4 H.P.
1.4 Effective Filtration Area (Sq.Ft)
35 Flow1 Rate (GPM)
Turnover Capacity 8 Hour 16,800 10 Hour 21,000 25,200 12 Hour
100 Sand Required (Lbs)
16 Tank Diameteor (In.)
28-1/2 Tank Height (In.)

I am really looking for the right set up on this and money is less of an option as I want to really get this part right. A lot of information guys and again, thank you for all your help.

Jonathan