Please help! Open a swamp, how & when to use new sand/SWG combo and chemicals?

[Amy.M]

Re: Filter Sand

I'd advise avoiding the Quikrete stuff being sold. I tried it today. It is finer than play sand and flew right through the system. Since it was my first time seeing "pool filter sand" I has no basis for comparison. The #20 silica I just got from the pool store looks like a bag of rocks compared to that other stuff! It seems to be working though, so it can look like rocks all it wants.

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Oh, people have been telling me all afternoon (not here, in person and on the phone) that quikcrete doesn't sell pool sand. They insist I am mistaken and that what I used had to be labelled for use in sand boxes or landscaping. But there it is, printed right there on the bag.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Filter Sand

There are thousands of people using the Quikrete pool sand without problems on the forum. There have never been any issues with it before. It is specced to be the same size as #20 silica sand, plus a few slightly larger grains (which isn't a problem).

Play sand is spec'd to have a larger grain size.

 

[Amy.M]

Re: Filter Sand

Is this something that just happens on occasion, maybe bad batches? I initially thought that I might have a new pump with a defective or missing piece, but when I looked online, I saw nothing but stories of people having the exact same thing happen to them. They were scattered over the past five years, and I didn't note any regional trends. I know that it is more likely to see reports of bad experiences since we are more likely to warn others than someone buying a cheap product that works fine.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Please help! Open a swamp, how & when to use new sand/SWG combo and chemicals?

Looking around, I do see recent complaints at other sites of exactly the same issues you are reporting. Apparently they have a bad batch of sand out there. The specification of what it is supposed to be is correct, and there have not been problems in the past. But just at the moment there do appear to be many people having exactly the problem you had.

 

[Amy.M]

Re: Please help! Open a swamp, how & when to use new sand/SWG combo and chemicals?

I think I may have found something that could explain it. They are currently reporting the size for this product to be "20-40." I con't confirm this, but many people clearly state online that it was at some point only "20." Maybe there was a change to the product and sellers/consumers aren't yet aware. Has there ever been a sieve size listed on the bag for this product?
Here is the link to the data sheet listing the size at 20-40. http://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/DATA_SHEET-Sand-PoolFilter.pdf