Too late for me to get in on the poll, but...
The pool came with a DE filter when the GF bought the house... In past years, before I started doing BBB, it did an OK but not great job, and we've had to replace the grids in it a few times. I was also overcharging it when cleaning, as I always put the full amount of DE back in it after a backwash, so the excess would build up, and I would have a more or less solid blob of DE when I would break the filter down at winter closing :x
I will be interested to see what the filter looks like this year now that I've started doing BBB, and using the right amount of DE when charging after a backwash...
At this point, the filter seems to be semi-obsolete, and we are inclined to think that the next time it needs parts, we may replace it with something newer, though we aren't sure just what.
I'm not happy with the mess that DE makes when backwashing, or doing the annual filter cleaning at closing time, nor the need to always be buying more DE.
Cart filters again seem to have the drawback of needing frequent relatively expensive cartridge replacements. (You can only clean them so many times, or so I'm told...) Cartridge cleaning is also said to be a messy job...
Sand filters seem to be the lowest maintainence, but I've been concerned about how one winterizes them - however the GF found a thread that said if you just pull the drain plug, they will drain and dry out to the point where freezing isn't a problem... However they may not do as good a job of filtering as the DE does.
However it will hopefully be another few years before the subject becomes a major concern...
Gooserider
The pool came with a DE filter when the GF bought the house... In past years, before I started doing BBB, it did an OK but not great job, and we've had to replace the grids in it a few times. I was also overcharging it when cleaning, as I always put the full amount of DE back in it after a backwash, so the excess would build up, and I would have a more or less solid blob of DE when I would break the filter down at winter closing :x
I will be interested to see what the filter looks like this year now that I've started doing BBB, and using the right amount of DE when charging after a backwash...
At this point, the filter seems to be semi-obsolete, and we are inclined to think that the next time it needs parts, we may replace it with something newer, though we aren't sure just what.
I'm not happy with the mess that DE makes when backwashing, or doing the annual filter cleaning at closing time, nor the need to always be buying more DE.
Cart filters again seem to have the drawback of needing frequent relatively expensive cartridge replacements. (You can only clean them so many times, or so I'm told...) Cartridge cleaning is also said to be a messy job...
Sand filters seem to be the lowest maintainence, but I've been concerned about how one winterizes them - however the GF found a thread that said if you just pull the drain plug, they will drain and dry out to the point where freezing isn't a problem... However they may not do as good a job of filtering as the DE does.
However it will hopefully be another few years before the subject becomes a major concern...
Gooserider