I was going to add a littel D.E. to my sand filter to help with filtration. I went to my pool store and they sold me Celatom Diatomite. Is diatomite the same as diatomaceous earth? The back of the bag says "amorphous diatomaceous and crystalline silica in varying amounts."
Diatomite??
- Thread starter spaige
- Start date
That is the right stuff. Diatomite is another name for diatomaceous earth, and Celatom is a brand name.
Thanks Jason. Do you know how this stuff works? I was very surprised that it was fine like powder. I don't see how it keeps from making its way through the sand back into the pool.
It is actually the silica skeleton of prehistoric creatures called diatoms. It has many fine, microns sized pores in it like a sieve. When you add it to a sand filter it 'dirties' the sand by filling up the spaces between the sand grains to provide finer filtration (since dirty sand will filter better than clean sand, particularly if the sand is old and polished.)
The reason it does not go through the sand filter is because the actual particle size of the DE is large enough for a sand filter to catch.
The reason it does not go through the sand filter is because the actual particle size of the DE is large enough for a sand filter to catch.
