My pool is about 5 years old and has a cover over it most of the time. Since it was new I have had an issue with silt collecting in areas of the pool. The longer the pump runs the more silt. It's a very fine silt and dissipates with water movement but, of course, settles out again over time. It's sort of a drag when you have people over and you open your pool and it looks like it has debris all over the bottom.
I contacted Jandy (the manufacturer of the filter) and they said no silt should get through the filter and it was likely the wrong sand, broken or cracked laterals or a leak in the stand pipe. Finally, last summer I got tired of it and tore the filter down, replaced all the laterals (although none were damage, replaced all the sand with pool specific silica sand and replaced the stand pipe making sure it fit very tightly. Ah, now more silt. Wrong! Same problem with no discernible change. I read more about filters and, from what I can tell, Sand filters are great because they are so simple and easy (I would concur whole heartily with that) but they only filter down to 20 microns. It seems DE and Cartridge filters filter down to 4-5 microns. I think the rep at Jandy that said there should be no silt is wrong. I am in New Mexico in a dry and relatively dusty environment. The dust here is very fine and I don't think a sand filter can get it all out.
So, my questions are - am I crazy or does this make sense? And, is there a way to get a sand filter to filter this very fine silt out or do I have to switch to a DE or Cartridge filter (other options?)? I have heard and read about adding some DE to the sand or using alternative filter media (glass beads, other). Anyone have any experience with this?
Any thoughts or input would be appreciated cause ... I am sick of the silt!
Thanks!
I contacted Jandy (the manufacturer of the filter) and they said no silt should get through the filter and it was likely the wrong sand, broken or cracked laterals or a leak in the stand pipe. Finally, last summer I got tired of it and tore the filter down, replaced all the laterals (although none were damage, replaced all the sand with pool specific silica sand and replaced the stand pipe making sure it fit very tightly. Ah, now more silt. Wrong! Same problem with no discernible change. I read more about filters and, from what I can tell, Sand filters are great because they are so simple and easy (I would concur whole heartily with that) but they only filter down to 20 microns. It seems DE and Cartridge filters filter down to 4-5 microns. I think the rep at Jandy that said there should be no silt is wrong. I am in New Mexico in a dry and relatively dusty environment. The dust here is very fine and I don't think a sand filter can get it all out.
So, my questions are - am I crazy or does this make sense? And, is there a way to get a sand filter to filter this very fine silt out or do I have to switch to a DE or Cartridge filter (other options?)? I have heard and read about adding some DE to the sand or using alternative filter media (glass beads, other). Anyone have any experience with this?
Any thoughts or input would be appreciated cause ... I am sick of the silt!
Thanks!