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

[mas985]

I just want to add another reason that cartridge filters are installed by PBs. In some cases, it is that they are required to or strongly recommended to by local ordinances. Where I live, it is strongly recommended that any new pool use a cartridge filter, not DE nor sand. I thought it was required, but it's actually just that use of backwashing filters is strongly discouraged. The reason is due to water restrictions. Though most years we do not have drought, about every 10 years or so we do and the county encourages use of water-wise landscaping, etc.

My PB put in an oversized 4-cartridge filter when my pool could have filtered its volume with a smaller 1-cartridge filter, but I'm glad he did. As Kelly points out, the filter needs far less frequent cleaning. Because I have a pool cover to keep out most leaves and other junk, I can get away with cleaning once a year and I see no increase (or less than 1 psi increase) in pressure over that time (I could probably go for longer than a year without cleaning if I had to). I do a quick rinse with a hose (and manually remove some cedar needles that are clumped) and take the cartridges down to my local pool store for them to soak clean (it costs me around $15 per filter for them to do the cleaning, but I don't mind since it's just once a year). For cost-conscience users, the garbage can soak with dishwashing detergent sounds quite effective. I usually do this just before the start of the swim season when the water is still cold so that I can go a day without running the pump while the filters are getting cleaned.

Richard

Where I'm at, the city requires separation tanks for DE or Sand which pretty much discouraged me from that since it I would have to clean the tank which is not much different then the cartridges.
I also supersized my filter and could go many years without cleaning it although I usually clean it at least once a year and I don't see any pressure rise at all. It takes less than an hour to clean four large cartridges and since I use high pressure hose, the flow rates are not that great so I am sure that I am using way less water than I would if I needed to backwash.