Should I switch to de filter?

Jenmachen

Silver Supporter
Jul 10, 2017
71
West Monroe, LA
I have an old sand filter and it is running just fine. I do have a large family and an indoor pool. It's very normal to have a high bather load at least every weekend, and sometimes in the mid-week, and once summer starts, it's even more often. My filter does a great job most of the time, but it takes at least a whole day to remove all particulates after a bunch of teenagers are in there, sometimes more than one day. Of course the pool looks clean during the day, but once that pool light gets turned on after dark, I can see the particulates and I hate it. The rest of the family does not care at all, as our pool looks so much better than every other pool any of them see (strict adherence to TFP recommendations).

I do add a little DE to my sand filter which I'm sure helps, but not enough for me to see perfectly clear water at night on a Sunday. I also already use ahh some monthly. And I do up my FC during the weekends. My water chemistry stays perfect, I use only Taylor testing supplies. I deep clean my sand twice a year. I would say that I slam my pool anytime my CC is above .5, but to be honest, since you guys taught me to take care of my own pool, I've only had to do that three times (in the 7 years since TFP).

So my question is....would switching to a DE filter solve this? I realize it's expensive, but I have the money to do it, if I decide to. Is there a better alternative? Maybe I'm making too much of it? This will sound silly, but it kinda hurts my pride when I see the water like this. I understand it is not a chemistry issue and that it has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the pool, but it still irritates me. I actually feel a little embarrassed even asking this question. I have a nearly perfect indoor pool, and I'm whining about something that nobody else even notices.😂
 
So my question is....would switching to a DE filter solve this?
IMO, no.

Your high bather load equates to my outdoor pool on a breezy day. Crud ends up in the pool and suspended particles stay put for quite some time. By the time it finally finds the skimmer, more was added and it's a never ending battle.

And there is airborne crud indoors too. I'm reminded of this anytime the sun shines in a window just right.

Anywho, adding DE to your filter fast forwards it to when it's slightly dirty and more efficient. Its basically filtering at DE levels at that point, said DE traps finer crud and the crud becomes an even finer filter. *When* the crud finally gets there. It's not the filters fault.
 
Time…..time is the issue…..you need time for the particulates to move through the system to the filter and get trapped in the media. Sand, DE, Carts all filter below what the human eye can see….but the particulate needs time to circulate through the system and get trapped in whatever filter media you have.
 
I have an old sand filter and it is running just fine. I do have a large family and an indoor pool. It's very normal to have a high bather load at least every weekend, and sometimes in the mid-week, and once summer starts, it's even more often. My filter does a great job most of the time, but it takes at least a whole day to remove all particulates after a bunch of teenagers are in there, sometimes more than one day. Of course the pool looks clean during the day, but once that pool light gets turned on after dark, I can see the particulates and I hate it. The rest of the family does not care at all, as our pool looks so much better than every other pool any of them see (strict adherence to TFP recommendations).

I do add a little DE to my sand filter which I'm sure helps, but not enough for me to see perfectly clear water at night on a Sunday. I also already use ahh some monthly. And I do up my FC during the weekends. My water chemistry stays perfect, I use only Taylor testing supplies. I deep clean my sand twice a year. I would say that I slam my pool anytime my CC is above .5, but to be honest, since you guys taught me to take care of my own pool, I've only had to do that three times (in the 7 years since TFP).

So my question is....would switching to a DE filter solve this? I realize it's expensive, but I have the money to do it, if I decide to. Is there a better alternative? Maybe I'm making too much of it? This will sound silly, but it kinda hurts my pride when I see the water like this. I understand it is not a chemistry issue and that it has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the pool, but it still irritates me. I actually feel a little embarrassed even asking this question. I have a nearly perfect indoor pool, and I'm whining about something that nobody else even notices.😂
If you aren’t running your pool pump 24x7 then that would help a lot. Running low speed 24x7 filters the water very well even with a sand filter.
 
IMO, no.

Your high bather load equates to my outdoor pool on a breezy day. Crud ends up in the pool and suspended particles stay put for quite some time. By the time it finally finds the skimmer, more was added and it's a never ending battle.

And there is airborne crud indoors too. I'm reminded of this anytime the sun shines in a window just right.

Anywho, adding DE to your filter fast forwards it to when it's slightly dirty and more efficient. Its basically filtering at DE levels at that point, said DE traps finer crud and the crud becomes an even finer filter. *When* the crud finally gets there. It's not the filters fault.
That makes sense. I did not think about it like that. Any way to turn the water over faster?
 

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Yes single speed is what it says in the specs I just looked up. I don't know the difference. Except for when I open it up and remove whatever made it passed the skimmer sock, I rarely think about it. Can I do better?
With your current pump there’s not much you can do. If your pump was variable speed, I was going to suggest slowing the flow of water through the system. It’s possible to “flood”/overload a filter and reduce its effectiveness by running water through it too fast. Unfortunately you don’t have the option to slow down your current pump, and I’m unsure that even if you were to install a VSP and slow down the flow it would resolve your concern.
 
Yes single speed is what it says in the specs I just looked up. I don't know the difference. Except for when I open it up and remove whatever made it passed the skimmer sock, I rarely think about it. Can I do better?
You’de be better off switching to a variable speed pump. Probably even cheaper than a new filter.
 
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