I have a cartridge which seems to be the least favorite on this and other forums although I am not quite sure why. In my city, I would need to have installed a separation tank to reclaim backwash water in order to pass inspection. Having to clean out a separation tank, which is really just another filter, turned me off to sand and DE as well.

Also, I way oversized the filter so I only have to clean it twice a year and probably could get away with once per year (I don't see any PSI rise in 6 months). To me this seemed like a lot less work than rolling out a backwash hose every few weeks. Down side is I will have to replace them periodically although not sure how often.