A good deal or bad idea ?

[gypsymoon]

I learned a ton from our last pool a used 24 ft buried . Mainly when buying used get a newish one. This time we planned to buy new until someone offered us their one year old 24 ft pool for $300. It was bought a year ago . The walls and etc look new. There are no dings or rust of any kind. The only thing wrong with it he says is he didn't winterize it right and busted the pump. He says the sand filter is ok. It has a ladder and skimmer like new. I really want a 2 speed pump and a thicker liner anyway. So, is it a bad idea to even consider this pool ? What does everyone think ?

 

[linen]

Sounds like it could be great for you.

 

[pwrstrk]

Sounds good to me. I would go with a 2 speed pump. I use a 1 hp 2 speed pump on my 24' round. It is plenty of pump. I would also go for a 25 mil liner at the min.

 

[gypsymoon]

Thank you for all the help everyone. I have another small question if you don't mind. A local pool guy said I could add some kind of hybrid stuff in place of the sand in a sand filter. Anyone have any idea what that is and would that be a good idea for this pool ? I didn't pay attention at the time as we were thinking cartridge.

 

[pwrstrk]

I've heard of Zeo-sand, but I have no experience with it.

Maybe somebody that has some experience with it will chime in.

 

[gypsymoon]

Thank you for your help. I have never heard of that.

 

[pwrstrk]

I did a quick search and found this http://www.zeoinc.com/zeosand.html

 

[crek31]

There are threads on here about it. Search it and you'll find some. I am a cartridge user so only pay passing attention to sand filter stuff, but my recollection is people think sand itself is just as good.

 

[Casey]

I use DE and don't know much about sand filters but like crek31... heard you don't need super special *make the pool stores rich* hybrid sand. The regular pool sand is all you need.

ETA that that seems like a great deal you got on that 1 yr old pool! I'd snag that baby up!

 

[linen]

Some people have luck with the sand alternatives, but others have issues. Regardless, regular pool filter sand does a fine job of filtering and is less expensive. Many people who try sand alternatives are doing so because they are having trouble with algae and not because they need better filtering. Algae is a chemistry issue and not a filter issue.

 

[CUTiger78]

I switched to Zeosand when I replaced my old sand filter with a new one. I was happy enough with sand that I didn't want to switch to DE or cartridge. Last season, my 4th full season w/ Zeosand, my water was more sparkly & clear than I can remember and I've had this pool for 20 years. So, I'm a Zeosand fan.

YMMV and you'll find all sorts of sand, Zeo, DE, & cartridge advocates here on TFP to help with questions.

Good luck!

 

[linen]

My recommendation is to start with pool filter sand and decide if the water is clear enough before trying an alternative, and then only if both proper chemistry (algae free, etc.) and proper sand type are confirmed.

Just thought I would share an experience I had: I have a sand filter with regular pool filter sand. At one point when I needed to take my sand filter off-line to fix it, I replaced temporarily with a cartridge filter and ran that for a few weeks to see if I liked it better. I noticed no obvious difference in water clarity and I get significant debris (and swimmers) in my pool. However, I did not enjoy the cleaning of the cartridges at all (compared to backwashing my sand filter). Of course each pool will be different.