2 speed pump or not? Also the great DE debate!

[waterbear]

I can't argue with local ordinances. But I suspect most people trying to clean them with a garden hose going for a couple of hours would easily match back-washing in water use.

A couple of hours? it only takes a few minutes. I have a Clean and Clear 150 on my pool and I clean it monthly (with pool open year long and a 9-10 month swim season). I don't need to since I never have any increase in pressure and could probably go about 8 months to a year, if not longer) before I got an 8 psi increase. I have gone as long as 3 months between cleanings and had no pressure increase but cleaning the cart did become more of a chore so I have learned the hard way that, just like with your pool water, a little bit of preventive montly care on your cart will make the maintenance MUCH easier!!!!!!! Carl, You always tell people to stay ahead of their water. Well, it makes just as much sense to stay ahead of your cartridge!!!!!!! It takes me about 15 minutes to pop the filter open, carry the cart to the front of the house and hose it off on the driveway, hose it off, then carry it back. (actually I have 2 carts so I pop the clean one in first and reassemble the filter and clean out the pump basket. The whole process is very quick! Now if I had 4 carts to deal with such as in the filter that Huskyrider is suggesting then I would probably wait for year or more before I attempted to clean it or I would call someone in to do it!!!!!!!)

It sounds like a plastic garbage can devoted to cartridge soaking is a great way to go
and really only necessary once a year or at best twice a year if the cart is hosed off on a regular basis!
--but I'm sticking with my sand filter. We have water restrictions due to several years of drought that were never lifted, but pool filters weren't affected.

BTW, I agree with Huskeyrider that DE filters are better off being broken down and cleaned and not backwashed, as I have often stated here in the forum!