glass filtration media = cloudy water

[dave8108]

good day gentlemen

I am from South Africa, and Glass Filtration Media is a new filtration media being introduced into our country. I know it has been used in the USA for 20years now.

I recently carried out a sand change and put the glass filtration media. My pool turned milky and cloudy over night. i have never had this problem before. I treated the water with a stabiliser on the recommendation from the pool shop.

this cleared up my pool for a couple of days but then back to cloudy pool.

any experience with this. i have only read good things about the glass filtration. does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be. all my friends have installed the glass and their pools are looking beautiful.

regards

 

[Bama Rambler]

Are you sure you don't have something else going on and the clouding after changing the media was just a coincedence? Can you post a full set of test results?

 

[JasonLion]

While I don't recommend glass filter media for a number of reasons, cloudy water is not a problem I associate with glass filter media. Cloudy water is nearly always a problem related to improper chemical levels.

 

[dave8108]

Thanks for getting back to me, I will post the results you requested probably tomorrow

Interesting you should say that glass is not your favorite filtration media. Any reasons why you don't like it?

 

[JasonLion]

Long term, the prospects for glass media seem promising. But for right now I recommend holding off until there is more mainstream adoption, problems are ironed out, and prices come down.

In more detail: 1) Glass media is more expensive. 2) The use of glass media in filters is fairly new, the documented advantages are quite small for residential users, while the disadvantages, if any, remain unknown. If often takes several years for the down sides of a new technology to come to the fore. 3) Many of the companies selling glass media make claims that are not at all supported by research and seem wildly implausible. It is better to avoid products from companies using deceptive sales practices. Who knows what else they are being less than upfront about. 4) There have been a few scattered reports of problems with some vendors selling media that is not properly graded for size, which causes expensive difficulties.

For commercial users the reduced backwash water volume can be a very significant point, and that alone can justify the use of glass in commercial contexts. But for residential customers the advantages are minimal and waiting is a better idea.

 

[DrydenAqua]

The cloudy pool water after the addition of the crushed glass filter media was probably dues to colloidal glass particles. The water would have a gray, almost milky appearance. Swimming in such water could potentially cause eye damage; it is also an indication that there may be other issues that may not be safe with the product.

At Dryden Aqua I conducted a PhD on sand and zeolite filtration systems, we also used glass to manufacture zeolites and eventually we used glass as the raw material and simply change the surface structure of the material to give a high negative zeta potential hydrophobic self cleaning and sterilizing surface. The product is called AFM and it works in much the same way as self clean and sterilizing windows that have a thin layer of titanium dioxide.

Over the last few years at Dryden Aqua we seemed to have made an impression and there are now many companies copying our AFM activated filter media with crushed glass alternatives. AFM is an expensive product because it is not crushed glass. It would be like comparing activated carbon with anthracite H, both products are chemically the same, but at a molecular level they are completely different. AFM activated filter media can be compared in the same way to crushed glass, chemical very similar but completely different filtration properties.

 

[JasonLion]

The cloudy pool water after the addition of the crushed glass filter media was probably dues to colloidal glass particles.

While that is possible, it wouldn't be even close to my first guess. Problems with glass particles would not have reacted to a change in stabilizer level at all. Instead they would tend to re-appear briefly after each time the filter was backwashed.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If the glass media was sold as filter media I would not suspect colloidal glass particles to be the issue.

A set of test results will give us more info to narrow the issue down.

 

[ecosmarte]

I would check to see if a pea gravel base was properly installed if the cloudiness showed up with in ten days of install. Also 1.0HP is the proper pump for a 24 inch filter so your install is more critical

 

[teapot]

The cloudy pool water after the addition of the crushed glass filter media was probably dues to colloidal glass particles.

While that is possible, it wouldn't be even close to my first guess. Problems with glass particles would not have reacted to a change in stabilizer level at all. Instead they would tend to re-appear briefly after each time the filter was backwashed.

If the glass media was sold as filter media I would not suspect colloidal glass particles to be the issue.

A set of test results will give us more info to narrow the issue down.

I agree with Dryden Aqua, if the OP didn't thouroughly backwash the media before filtering it could easily be colloidal glass particles.

 

[toofast]

Figured this is a good thread....been fighting for 2 years with my Pool Builder and ECOsmarte glass media.

ECOsmarte has lied every step of the way and I documented every lie. I finally got a call with the ego driven own at ECOsmarte and he denied that I've ever talked with them. After I presented him with all the facts, he promptly hung up on me.

RUN AWAY from glass media, it is a wild SCAM (in my humble opinion)