Is Cleaning Filters On A Temprary Pool Worth It?

[crokett]

My pool is one of the seasonals. Pool School mentions they are disposable but doesn't mention them in the cleaning filters section.

Econmically, the cartridge filters for my pool are about 5 bucks each at Walmart. The filter cleaner at the pool place lets me clean 4 filters per bottle, so net per month is a wash - I would clean 4 filters/month. I found a link online for soaking filters in bleach, and then muriatic acid but I am not crazy about having those chemicals around with curious kids. Do I need to do anything other than spray them out with a hose? I am also not crazy about adding them to the landfill every month. Can I recycle them?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Actually the disposable ones are not meant to be cleaned per the instructions for permanent filters. You can hose them off once a week but they should be replaced every 2 weeks, not cleaned with acid or tsp.

There are non-disposable type that can be repeatedly cleaned that are available for purchase online.

 

[crek31]

I just get two or three and rotate them. Seems to work for me. About once a week I check the filter and if it is gunky I hose it off with jet nozzle on hose. Let it dry. Put in a dry one I would have hosed off before. If one is especially dirty or slimy (ie, sunblock) I toss it and put a new one in the rotation.

 

[crokett]

Not meant to be cleaned? I looked at one new one I have and it doesn't really say, but that makes the choice easier. I will just hose them off and toss them after a few uses. Thanks.

 

[Richard320]

My pool is one of the seasonals. Pool School mentions they are disposable but doesn't mention them in the cleaning filters section.

Econmically, the cartridge filters for my pool are about 5 bucks each at Walmart. The filter cleaner at the pool place lets me clean 4 filters per bottle, so net per month is a wash - I would clean 4 filters/month. I found a link online for soaking filters in bleach, and then muriatic acid but I am not crazy about having those chemicals around with curious kids. Do I need to do anything other than spray them out with a hose? I am also not crazy about adding them to the landfill every month. Can I recycle them?

What are you using in your pool?

Personally, I'd go heavy on the bleach if I had a small pool and a bunch of kids in it. If you're relying solely on pucks, it may work since you'll be draining it in the fall. But if you need to get a bunch of chlorine in the pool in a hurry, like a #2 accident, pinkeye outbreak, or algae bloom, those pucks won't dissolve fast enough. That leaves the shock powder, which I think might be more dangerous around kids if you have a bag of that laying around.

 

[crokett]

I use bleach as a chlorine source and the occasional muriatic acid to lower pH as needed, but those bottles stay in a cabinet in my locked shop. If I were cleaning filters, they would be in buckets outside, and I have one daughter that would absolutely do her best to pull the top off one of them. I'm not sure she could get the lid off a 5-gallon bucket, but I don't want to find out the hard way.