Sand vs. Zeolite comparison - anyone tried both?

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M

Miranda

0
Jan 20, 2008
161
Northeast Florida
I've only used Zeolite, and am considering switching to sand, but I have never used sand. I welcome any opinions. The only issues I have had: 1) I removed the top of the filter to look and the laterals came right out with the top since the stuff is so light and fluffy. Then I had to dump all the zeolite out to get the laterals back in. 2) I always wonder about using additives like algeacide, floc, clarifier, DE because I don't know if it will conflict with the zeo....with sand I know it wont. 3) Everyone with sand filters talk about filters working better when dirty and backwashing when the pressure increases. My pressure NEVER increases, even if I add a bunch of DE. This makes me wonder if the zeo is too loose to filter adequately.

As for performance, it does a great job, except for dead algae which requires blue clarifier. Then again, I have nothing to compare it to since it is all I have ever had. Has anyone tried both? Is the filtration really superior?
 
Zeolite does filter better than sand, though many people will not notice the difference. It is compatible with all of the usual pool chemicals, including algaecide, floc, clarifier, DE, etc. Zeolite also gets many more complaints than sand does, though you didn't mention any of the common ones.

How large is your filter? Large filters don't need to be backwashed very often, so you wouldn't normally see any pressure difference.

Having the laterals come up like that is very unusual and may indicate that something was installed incorrectly. That really shouldn't happen, and might be the cause of all of the problems you describe.
 
Yes, I think it was installed incorrectly. I measured the distance from the laterals to the top of the valve with it stuck together so I could make sure I put it back the same way. Pool store told me the lateral base should rest on the bottom (Hayward 24T). Assembled this way the measurement is 4-5" longer!

It appears the laterals were installed after some of the zeolite was placed, and then the valve was forced down over the tube. I REMEMBER the guy doing something like that. This means the laterals were possibly on top of the most of the zeo.
 
In testing, Zeolite definitely filters finer particles than sand, although given how screwed up the install sounds, just getting a full depth sand bed to filter with might make things better than what you have so far.
 
BriceJohnson said:
In testing, Zeolite definitely filters finer particles than sand, although given how screwed up the install sounds, just getting a full depth sand bed to filter with might make things better than what you have so far.
Click to expand...

Ah, a Pentair person. :party: Welcome to TFP. :wave:

Are you going to be helping and advising us with our Pentair products? Hope so. :-D

gg=alice
 
What I can tell you is that the 3 year old zeo I dumped out on the ground looks just as fresh and lovely as the $100 worth of zeo I just bought to replace it. Feels good between your toes...have a nice little beach area now. I also found out it pays to shop around. Pinch a Penny charged $35/50 lb bag. The Mom and Pop pool store wanted $75.
 
I've used both and think zeo lite does a better job polishing the water, though it may be just my hoping it was better :)

It does seem that I can back wash less with the ziolite than sand, but again I never did any measuring of it this is just seat of my pants stuff. I only need to back wash my filter twice a season and we have a long season here in central texas.
 
I had an extra 5 gallon bucket of zeolite saved from the sand change. It still looked fabuloust so I dumped it in on top of the rest of it. Installer said it couldn't hurt to overfill zeolite since it is light and extra may help with filtration. We will see. My pump pressure has NEVER gotten past 15, but I will keep an eye on it and remove the excess if I see a change. Opinions?
 
If you overfill, the sand/zeo can come out when you backwash. In most cases that isn't a big deal, since it only happens when you backwash. Assuming that doesn't happen, it should help with filtering compared to straight sand.
 

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That makes alot of sense! I am still below that point so I should be okay. Now how to get the frogs out of everything before I put it back together.....I think some crawled in to various parts of the plumbing while disassembled. I hear croaking and I am afraid I will have frog clogs.
 
Last summer for the first time I used zeobrite and it worked well until about a month ago when we began having a light brown discoloration to the pool water though all chemicals were perfectly balanced. After exhausting all efforts I opened the filter housing and noted an almost paint like opaque character to the water. I then removed the zeobrite added water to it and stirred, reproducing the light brown discoloration in the top of the filter. I flushed and stirred until the water ran clear over a period of 3-4 hours. When I opened the filter, I found that the laterals had worked their way up from the bottom considerably. I added white filter sand to the bottom and then returned the zeobrite to the top of the sand. The brown discoloration is slowly disappearing though it seems it is of such a fine character that it is extremely slow. Other observation: The particles of zeobrite are very much smaller than they were and more rounded. My water supply is from a artesion well of higher quality than public water here. Primary disinfection is by ozonation, copper sulfate, salt, sodium bicarbonate and dry sulfuric acid. Chlorine tabs are added in trace amounts to discourage insects. My conclusion is that 9 months is too short a time for failure for and filtration product and sand is best for this area of coastal florida.
 
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