DE in a sand filter???

[faithfulfrank]

I added some more, and it is now 1 psi higher.
Now, I wait for the transition from clear and clean to sparkling!

Frank D.

[drband]

DE in my sand filter really works great... I just added about 1 cup total today and my pool cleared from slightly hazy to sparkling in 3-4 hours. (I had already shocked and cleaned it up... there was just some fine stuff suspended in the water that the sand filter would not catch.) I'm sold on this "trick." Thanks for all the posts, questions, and info.

[gerri]

I added 1/3 cup to my filter tonight. I hope i wake up to sparkling water. My dad uses DE in his aquarium filters and swears by it. He calls it "water polisher". He told me to mix the DE in a little bit of water before adding it so it doesn't gum up, so I did. When I poured it in the skimmer there was a little grit in the bottom of my cup but I just added a little more water and swished it around and the cup rinsed clean. I will post results tomorrow.

It won't be as great as it could be though as I am battling metal stains right now. I'm doing an asorbic acid treatment on Wednesday though in hopes of having the sparkling clean looking pool.

[gerri]

This morning my pool water is clearer than it's ever been. If not for the metal stains it would be just perfect!

[cschnurr]

Went to the 3 pool stores to pick up DE. They didn't have any, but had an "equivalent" thats supposedly better than DE.

I tried it on the weekend, waiting only about 5 minutes, before reading the pressure gauge. Pressure rose very little, so I put in another cup, 3 in total.

Later in evening, checked pressure gauge and it was up 8 lbs.
So I had to backwash it away and start over.

How long should to wait for the pressure to increase?

[medvampire]

cschnurr

It takes mine about 20 to 30 minutes to raise. I get a 2 to 3 psi per 1 and a quarter cups. The de does work but I have noted it takes a few days to really notice the diffrence.
Steve

[Poconos]

cschnurr...Carl,
What was the stuff they sold that is supposed to be better than DE? Just curious. All I know is the approximate time for the presssure to stabilize when adding DE. The amount you add to get the target 1 psi rise is also very dependant on the filter size.
Al

[CarlD]

It's this new stuff that folks have written about that's some sort of DE substitute that's less dangerous to breathe. Some sort of fibrous stuff. I have NO idea how it works, or how well it works, but it's supposed to be OK to use with a cart filter, unlike real DE.

[waterbear]

There are two kinds of DE replacements...One is cellulose fiber and the other is perlite, a type of volcanic rock. I have no info on the filtering ability of either as to how small they will filter. I know the cellulose one can be used with cartridge filters since it doesn't clog the reemay polyester filter material. The perlite is still a silceous (glass) rock so it still might be dangerous to inhale. don't really know.

[cschnurr]

The stuff I was sold sounds like the cellulose material Waterbear mentioned.

It had a generic name like "DE filter additive". Instructions stated for DE filters or sand filter additive, and also stated it was 5x the efficiency of DE. It was off-white in colour and extremely lightweight.

It was $13 Cdn, for about 3-4 cups.

My question to the pool store where I purchased it was if it is 5x DE, how can so little of it spread entirely across the filter. She didn't know.