I put some D.E. in my sand filter this morning and when I got home today I could see a big difference! Thanks so much for the suggestion. I do have one question, I added the D.E. a little at a time until I saw a 1 psi increase in my filter pressure. I waited about 15 minutes or so to let things settle down. When I got home this afternoon my filter pressure was up 5 psi. I backwashed and got my filter pressure back down to normal (about 17psi). I repeated the process of adding the D.E. and waited 15 minutes or so and saw a 1 psi increase again. After a couple of hours now my psi is up about 5 again. Am I adding too much or is the D.E. doing that much better a job at filtering and catching more stuff. If I'm adding too much why is it taking so long for my psi to increase? I would have thought that 15-20 minutes would have been long enough to wait. Thank you.
D.E. in the Sand Filter Works!!
- Thread starter spaige
- Start date
I suspect that there is a lot of stuff in the water that sand alone can't catch but sand plus DE is catching. That would make the filter get dirty, and the pressure increase, fairly quickly until everything in the water in that size range was removed. The fact that you saw an obvious improvement in the water supports the idea that a lot of something is getting filtered out. If I am right, after a few more cycles the water should be much cleaner and you should be able to go back to backwashing much less frequently.
You might also be adding a bit too much at once. Sometimes it can take a while for the pressure to equalize as the DE works its way into the sand. Try adding half the amount and waiting about an hour and then checking your pressure.
Thanks guys. I will keep an eye on things see what happens over the next couple of days. I want you to know that my water has not been this clear since I first opened my pool; and I'm not even on BBB yet! I am so happy to have found this forum and I truly appreciate all the advice and time you put into answering questions. I just became a lifetime supporter and look forward to continuing discussions here at TFP.