sand or cartridge

[rottenvaughn]

Hi,
I currently own a 24' above ground pool with a cartridge filter system with a 1.5 hp pump and a leap frog infuser. My wife wants to switch to a sand filtration system because she thinks it will be easier to maintain. (as if she is the one that maintains it) My question is can the filter unit be switched out and I keep my existing pump and frog infuser or do I need to get a whole new unit? And....is it worth it to switch to sand or should I just keep the cartridge? I don't think it is that difficult to maintain. I do have some heavy cottonwood stuff that gets in there in early spring but other than that...
appreciate any input.
Rod

 

[gwegan]

Welcome to TFP!!!!!

You have told us very little about your pool. I'll just say it here at TFP we are not big frog fans.

That said How big is your current cartridge filter? How big is your pool? How much does water cost?

The main problem with cart filters is that pool suppliers tell people to purchase filters that are too small for their pool.

A properly oversized cartridge filter needs to be cleaned only twice a year. If you oversize the filter it only needs cleaning twice a year.

My pool is surrounded by trees, a huge Valley Oak to the west, cherry tree and Crepe Myrtles to the east and a stand of Redwoods to the south. I clean my cart filter twice a year.

I would tell you to get a larger cart filter.

Now Sand is great and if you have a place to backwash and can use the water (I am restricted to using 32% less water than I did in 2013) Sand works great. Plus its much easier to clean. However about every two or three years you want to deep clean the filter and that is several hours work. Again you want to oversize the filter. If you have a sharp eye you can tell that the cart filter will produce slightly clearer water.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!