I want to pass along what I think is a handy tip for pool owners with cartridge filters.
I live in the northeast and I always seem to have a LOT of debris in my pool to contend with each spring. So it's no surprise that my pool filter gets a lot of debris in it from day one. What I learned is to SAVE your old filters and use them for the first few days when opening your pool. Once the visible debris is cleared, swap them out with your 'summer' filters. This does two things: First, it removes most of the organic substrate for algae growth. Removing organic matter is always better than just trying to neutralize it with chlorine alone. Second, I found that I hardly need to clean my 'summer' filters for the rest of the pool season. (I know, you are going to tell me that the pool season is only a month long in Buffalo! Not true, we have long lovely summers here.)
Once I started doing this, I found that I almost never have algae problems (as long as I never let my chlorine level drop to zero of course, by following the excellent advice on this website.) If there is one thing I know after 20+ years of maintaining a pool, you can't keep algae at bay if your pool isn't clean.
I also seem to get more years of use out of the new filters as a result. I don't waste much time cleaning my 'opening filters'- after all, they are just doing the dirty work and are gone before the pool chemistry is balanced.
Hope that helps you if your pool is dirty on opening day.
I live in the northeast and I always seem to have a LOT of debris in my pool to contend with each spring. So it's no surprise that my pool filter gets a lot of debris in it from day one. What I learned is to SAVE your old filters and use them for the first few days when opening your pool. Once the visible debris is cleared, swap them out with your 'summer' filters. This does two things: First, it removes most of the organic substrate for algae growth. Removing organic matter is always better than just trying to neutralize it with chlorine alone. Second, I found that I hardly need to clean my 'summer' filters for the rest of the pool season. (I know, you are going to tell me that the pool season is only a month long in Buffalo! Not true, we have long lovely summers here.)
Once I started doing this, I found that I almost never have algae problems (as long as I never let my chlorine level drop to zero of course, by following the excellent advice on this website.) If there is one thing I know after 20+ years of maintaining a pool, you can't keep algae at bay if your pool isn't clean.
I also seem to get more years of use out of the new filters as a result. I don't waste much time cleaning my 'opening filters'- after all, they are just doing the dirty work and are gone before the pool chemistry is balanced.
Hope that helps you if your pool is dirty on opening day.
