So happy I am here to be posting in 2010. That means the time is near and we will be opening our pool this Friday..YEAH!

This is only our 2nd year opening the pool, so a few quick questions.

I know filter should run for 24hours after opening. Here are my questions
1) since we have a QuadDE filter that has both DE (although we use AquaPerl) and cartridges, can we use just the cartridge the first few days of filtering and save our DE?
2) how long b/f we should clean the filter or just until the pressure rises? Last year we didn't know we should clean the cartridge after the first week of opening and the pressure never changed until mid-summer.

Thx!

PS - my friend told me today they did not clean their DE last fall b/c they didn't want to waste more DE at opening so they are reusing the DE from the fall for the first week and then they will replace. Is there anything wrong with this?

Keeping DE in the filter over the winter is a bad idea. DE can sometimes harden into a solid mass when it dries out, making the filter not filter very well and very difficult to clean.

You never want to run a DE filter without DE in it for more any longer than you have to. Debris in the water can get stuck in the grids/cartridges and be very difficult to clean out, reducing the filtering ability of the filter. The cartridges in the QuadDE are not the same as the ones in a cartridge filter and are not designed to be used without DE.

There isn't any special need to clean the filter after the first week as long as the pressure stays low. You only need to replace the DE when the pressure goes up 6 to 10 psi from whatever it starts at.

Thank you very much!