Cartridge vs. Sand Filters

[CarlD]

I had a tiny cart on an Intex EasySet, and though it's much easier to maintain than a full size cart (replacements are $10 so you can chuck it if you don't feel like cleaning it) I disliked it intensely. Cleaning even the little carts was a PITA. I've heard the "Once a season" urban myth, but most owners end up cleaning them far more frequently. Some work out routines to make it easier.

I now have a sand filter (for a much larger pool) and find maintenance on it during the season and before and after to be trivial. When the pressure goes up I backwash. I have a backwash hose on a reel so rolling it out and back is a snap--takes less than a minute for each. Backwashing means moving a handle to backwash, and back. No big deal. I backwash every week or 2--when the pressure rises and it's easy. Some day, I'll connect the waste line to the storm sewer directly, and it will be even less work. To increase filtering, I add a cup of DE after I backwash, a la Poconos. One 10 lb box is usually enough for the summer.

My dad had DE filters for 20 + years and had few problems with them. They work very well too, and give the best filtering quality. He didn't think it was a lot of work to maintain.

I suspect that if you find your filtering system works for you, you'll be happy with it and swear by it. If you find it to be a problem and a lot of work, you should switch. With ALL filters it's very important to be sure the filter's GPM capacity is greater than the max GPM the pump puts out. ALL will give you trouble otherwise.

[waterbear]

I am an avid cartridge user so let me state that first!

I agree with CarlD. If your filtering system works for you then you will love it.
There are pros and cons to the three types of filters in terms of maintenance and filtering ability and you need to look them over and decide what you want to do and spend for maintenance of the filter and how 'polished' you want your water to be. Some townships now only allow cartridge filters becuase of the water used duing backwashing of sand and DE.

DE will filter to about 6 microns
Cartrdige will filter to about 20 microns
Sand will filter to about 60 microns.

As far as maintenace involved...that depends on whethter you ask a sand, cartridge, or DE owner!

One final though...an UNDERSIZED cartridge filter (such as on some of the Intex pools and on some spas) is probably the WORST filter you will ever have to deal with. A properly sized one is easy if you hose it off BEFORE the pressure gauge rises the 8-10 psi that is usually recommended. I hose mine off monthy and usually have no increase in pressure at the time I do it. The whole process takes about 10 minutes and that includes cleaning the basket in the pump.

All filters will benefit from thorough cleaning yearly, which can be time consuming and the process is different for each type of filter.