My sand filter sucks, new filter options?

[Unabomber007]

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=5423

This link shows what kind of gook I'm filtering up. I'm not sure if it's from the filter or is just dead algae, but my heart tells me it's from the filter.

Last year on my DE filter, it was an algae free summer other than a few SMALL outbreaks. This year, the only thing that changed is the new sand filter and my pool just plain sucks. Still using bleach and borax and all the numbers are fine just like last year.

[GraceByDesign]

my very inexperienced take on your filter 'not liking' DE... perhaps the pressure is shooting up because the DE is working and trapping so many particles... as your media gets full of stuff, the pressure goes up, right? so I would think if you were catching all the very fine stuff it could cause a large rise in psi

It sounds also like you have put a LOT of DE in your filter... others here use less than a cup of DE to get the 1psi rise... did you add it VERY slowly? or perhaps you have a huge sand filter?

[let_her_flicker]

When you vacuum your pool, you need to vacuum to waste. Do not vacuum to the sand filter. It will infest it with dead algae. After vacuuming to waste, backwash your filter just to make sure you get rid of any algae in your filter. Then go to rinse and run in the rinse cycle for at least 30 seconds. When water is clear, go back to filter. Green water should not be coming out of the return. Also, make sure you turn the pump off each time you change the handle between filter, waste, backwash, etc.

It will take a while, but your pool will clear up. Don't forget to brush your pool aggressively after vacuuming. You also need to maintain a high chlorine level based on your CYA numbers to insure you've killed off the algae.

With a sand filter, always vacuum to waste when dealing with lots of dead algae.

Hope this helps.

[KurtV]

bomber,
If you're getting algae, I think we can conclude that your numbers are not fine. Insufficient chlorine for your level of CYA is by far the most likely reason for the problem. While poor filtration might exacerbate an algae problem, I think it unlikely that that's the root cause. Can you post a full set of numbers?

On your sand filter, what size is it? Does it have sufficient sand in it? Too much? Does it have filter sand and not play sand in it? A properly sized and properly functioning sand filter won't have the problems you're having.

Cheers,
Kurt