You’ve been enjoying your beautiful pool in Souderton and it is time to think about filter maintenance. While it may not be the most fun topic, if you want the fun to keep going, it is an important topic. In this article, we are going to talk about filter maintenance for the different kind of filters that you might have.
Filter Maintenance for 3 Different Filters
If you haven’t been a pool owner for long, you may have thought that filter maintenance was the same for all filters. A filter is a filter, right? Wrong. There are different types of filters and you need to think about what your specific filter needs.
Sand Filter Maintenance
When we look at a sand filter tank, it is made of fiberglass, metal, and concrete and contains a thick bed of special-grade sand. Dirty water comes from the pool and through the filter’s inlet pipe that leads to the water distribution head that is inside the tank. Gravity does its work and pulls the water down through the sand and the tiny sand particles the dirt and debris. At the bottom of the tank, the filtered water goes out the pick-up unit and outlet pipe.
There are pressure gauges at the filter inlet and the filter outlet to let you know if the water flow has been slowed down by debris and dirt and you also get an idea of the blockage level inside. You will need to backwash the filter if the inlet pipe has more pressure than the outlet pipe.
Over time, the coarseness of the sand is going to smooth since the debris is constantly working at it so you need to make sure to set it on your calendar to change the sand every five years.
Cartridge Filter Maintenance
The way cartridge filters work is by allowing the water to pass through a filter surface. The goal is to capture impurities in the water and hold them in place until you either clean the filter or replace the filter. Filter maintenance is easier with the cartridge filter because of the larger surface area and the lower likelihood of clogging. There is also a much lower pressure with the operation of cartridge filters versus sand filters. This means that your pump is going to have less backpressure and allow for greater flow of water through the system.
You can expect simply rinse your filters out when it comes to filter maintenance and then in about 3-5 years it will be time to replace the cartridge filter.
Diatomaceous Earth Filter Maintenance
DE is the filter media. What is DE? It is a fine powder that goes directly into the skimmer. The pump sucks the DE into its place which gets it ready to do its job. The only way to tell there is enough DE in the system is to watch the pressure gauge fall below 8 pounds or into the indicated safe zone on the pump. About once or twice a year, you will need to backwash and add new DE to the system.
