Swimming pools blog

Personally I am a great fan of multi-cartridge filters either the
Hayward Swimclear series or the Pentair Clean & Clear series. The
Sta-Rite company has a series of large cartridge filters but my
personal opinion is that the cartridges are very expensive and not
available from the aftermarket making it low on the list. Do not get
me wrong they are good filters just a bit pricy in a field that is
already expensive.
Why the cartridge filter! For one it filters almost as well as DE
but without the DE mess. Exterminators use DE to kill ants because
the jagged particles cuts the ants bodies. Breathing that stuff can
be a hazard but it is the best thing for pool filters. It is much
better than sand ever could be or ever would be.
Think of it in these terms, basketballs, baseballs and golfballs.
The sand filters will get the basketballs, the cartridge filters the
baseballs and the DE filters the golfballs. Considering the DE mess

I can live with baseballs in my pool.
Why multi-cartridge! Plain and simple it is bigger so you do not
need to clean it as often and quite possibly only once per year. A
DE filter you should take apart and clean at least once per year and
then backwash during the season. The sand filter has the others beat
here in that all you do is backwash to clean it and then about every
five years just change the sand.
Here is a little tip I got from the Unicel technical rep several
years ago about cleaning cartridge filters. When you purchase your
filter purchase an extra set of filter cartridges(yes the filter is
already more expensive that either the DE or sand models but swallow
hard and get them). When it comes time to clean the filters just
exchange the clean set for the dirty set and close up the filter and
get your pool back in operation. Set the dirty cartridges aside and
let them dry completly (bone dry). Now the dirt that was in the
filter has shrunken, the algae if any has died and it is just a bunch
of dust. Use a brush and some MILD compressed air to blow the dust
out and they are ready. No messy puddles of water, no wet soggy
filters and no wasted water. Even in the southeast it can take weeks
for the filters to dry so just leave them alone and do some other
stuff with your pool like go swimming.
Hey! Go swimming in your pool instead of work on it! What a novel
idea!
Ken