Hi, I just purchased a house built in 1965 and the vinyl pool was installed around that time too... I've been told it's over 30years old.. and it's ugly but it runs. I've been given lots of quotes on updating the plumbing,adding a skimmer, installing steps, replacing the liner, replacing the decking. all this will cost between 16-20K to make the pool look brand new. So obviously that will be done in the distant future.. right now the immediate concern is replacing a 30 year old sand filter. my main questions is does it matter if i buy a filter that is rated for a bigger pool?


details about the pool

My pool is a rectangle that measures 13x33 water line to water line... if you add the measurement from the coping i think its 18x36. i've looked online and have gotten a volume calculator to be about 26,000 gallons... no clue if this is correct or not.

The liner seems to hold water and doesn't seem to need immediate replacement. which is nice to know. it's not plumbed for a Polaris, but I have purchased a dolphin premier robotic cleaner.

The water since I've purchased it has been green, but I've recently started shocking the pool and am trying to get the water clearer.. (purchased house on august 21st and was on vacation last week.)

There is only one jet in the pool and only one skimmer (that is about 3 inches wide)

pump runs, and the sand filter is very old.

This is all I know at the moment.

as of today (according to my test strips) my chemicals are just about at optimal levels.. Chlorine is a little high, (since I shocked it) and my alkalinity is a little low, but i have added sodium bicarb to adjust.

I'm hoping the pool clears up in the next couple of days.

I'm thinking that I want to buy a new sand filter, I was considering a Hayward 30 inch filter, which would be a little overkill for the pool I could get the 24, but i'm not sure if it would be more helpful to have a bigger filter or not..

I have owned a saltwater aquarium for years, and the general rule in the saltwater community is the more filtration the better.

Anyway any advice or helpful information would be great!


Thanks!