Quote Originally Posted by MaxxFusion View Post
Thanks for the link.

What is the up keep on the sand filter? I know you have to back wash one a week or so but what exactly is backwashing on a sand filter?

Thanks,
Frank
Actually, you don't. You backwash when the pressure goes up too much--it can be a day or a month. My filter's been on since late April and I backwashed today for the first time.

Backwashing is literally that. The six-way valve on the top or side of the filter is set so pool water is pumped in the opposite direction it normally flows--like sticking your shop-vac hose in the output to blast it clear when something's stuck. It knocks all the dirt off the sand that's been collecting.

The water is re-directed to the the waste outlet. There's usually a little glass and you watch the water start clear, go brown with dirt, and then go clear again. Then, when you set the valve back to filter, the pressure drops. Today, it dropped 6 pounds.

The hardest part of backwashing (for me) is unrolling and rolling up the backwash hose. The rest is just rotating the valve handle and watching the sight glass. One day I'll sink a pipe into one of the gutter drains that runs to the French Drain in the back that runs across everyone's property and be able to backwash without the hose as well!