Zeolite

[subslug]

I can certainly throw in my 2 cents regarding zeosand as opposed to DE/Sand media. I run several indoor facilities and was sold on zeosand as being able to help lower our CC levels and to be honest I never noticed so much as .01 drop in CCs for the 5 years we've been using the zeosand.

What I do notice though is that the zeosand tends to channel in the filter meaning it creates a pathway through the media from the top of filter down where there's no media, it will also clump together. I regularly have to remove tops of filters and stir the media while in backwash mode, very messy. Obviously it's no-where near as much maintenance as DE filters but, no matter what's being said on here zeosand absolutely will not filter as well as DE either! And I'll stand by that statement.
Nothing filters like DE.

DE filters were an absolute nightmare to maintain in our commercial facilities as you could imagine but the pools with DE filters were by far clearer and more polished than any other filter/media I've used and I've used them all.
Our most recent facility was built with filters using just plain old sand media. We decided to just go back to the basics....oh that and to install a shiny new $20K UV system........what Chloramines? :-D

 

[Aquaclear-NZ]

sounds like you have been sold a "soft" zeolite, as this is a common problem with using this in a pressure filter situation
Its a shame that like with most products some companies will jump in on someone elses research and flog an inferior product..... the pool industry is not the only place this has happened

we replaced not just media but filters at 2 commercial pools last year as they had been sold "soft" zeolite media, not only did it chanel, but then set like cement over the lateral from the pressure

 

[duraleigh]

sounds like you have been sold a "soft" zeolite, as this is a common problem with using this in a pressure filter situation

Well, I really know very little about zeolite but are the bags labeled "soft" and "not soft"?

How would a consumer know that he is getting zeolite that doesn't work or zeolite that does work?

 

[Aquaclear-NZ]

sounds like you have been sold a "soft" zeolite, as this is a common problem with using this in a pressure filter situation

Well, I really know very little about zeolite but are the bags labeled "soft" and "not soft"?

How would a consumer know that he is getting zeolite that doesn't work or zeolite that does work?

They dont know and the bags are not labelled and you can bet your bottom dollar that the person selling it to you does not either

"hardness" of the product is measured on the Mohs hardness scale and is logarithmic like pH. There are 3(from memory) mines in the world with the very hard zeolite 7 Mohs - some are as soft as 4Mohs

More regulation in our indusrty would certainly help with this

 

[H2O_Keeper]

Not sure if this helps or not, but here is a link about "Zeobest" which I will assume is another rename of zeolite that gives some technical data about the CE of ammonium.

http://www.northernfiltermedia.com/zeobest_tech.html

 

[chem geek]

Take a look at the consultant's report I linked to in this post and note that the capacity of zeolite to hold ammonium ion is GREATLY reduced at even normal sodium levels in a non-salt pool. The 1.2-1.8 meq/gm is deceiving. At even 100 mg/L sodium (254 ppm salt) the actual capacity is less than 10% of the stated maximum capacity. In a salt pool, it's less than 1% of this maximum capacity.

It's all a moot point anyway as I described in my earlier posts. In a pool with Free Chlorine (FC) there won't be any ammonia except incredibly tiny equilibrium amounts relative to monochoramine and it simply does not convert quickly enough to remove monochloramine from the water -- at least not by that mechanism. What is most relevant is how quickly such filters reduce monochloramine and there is no study showing that yet.

 

[arizona480]

I had an inquiry about Zeolite, is it still popular or too much hassle? Having to backwash less really doesn't seem to be an advantage as there is hard water in this area so "thinning out" the calcium and the cyanuric acid is a bonus with normal backwash cycles.

 

[toofast]

I had an inquiry about Zeolite, is it still popular or too much hassle? Having to backwash less really doesn't seem to be an advantage as there is hard water in this area so "thinning out" the calcium and the cyanuric acid is a bonus with normal backwash cycles.

In my opinion, (and from me personally testing) it is a total waste of Money. The "right sand" will give you the exact same results. Sand does not wear out.