Having a 2 speed motor (which I might have to replace), besides the advantage of energy savings, it has been touted that lower speeds actually filter better, trapping smaller particles that might get shot out by the higher speeds. In your experience, do you believe it's true?
Does low speed filter better than hi speed?
- Thread starter njpool644
- Start date
What kind of filter do you have?
I run my filter on low 24/7 and have had zero filtration issues...and a very reasonable utility bill.
I run my filter on low 24/7 and have had zero filtration issues...and a very reasonable utility bill.
I cannot answer for pool filters, but in fish tanks we recognized that there are two sorts of filtration; biological and mechanical (the third, chemical filtration, being not really important in fish tanks). If you were relying on mechanical filtration, then high flow rate was best, so you got the most water past the filter in a given time. If you were relying on biological filtration, then you wanted a slower rate, or a larger diameter of filter, so that the bacteria responsible for processing the wastes had time to work.
I don't know if that translates to pool filters at all, but I am pretty sure that a cartridge filter is mechanical filtration, so more flow is good. I don't know if a sand filter is biological filtration, it would be in a pond, where sand filters can be used, but I dont' really understand the mechanism of if that would mean that slow throughput would be good. I guess chlorine is actually chemical filtration.... and that would seem to be independant of flow rate through the filter, as long as you maintain good circulation to keep the chlorine moving into the places where it is needed.
Which is to say, I don't know but I am interested in the answer.
Anona, still a novice
I don't know if that translates to pool filters at all, but I am pretty sure that a cartridge filter is mechanical filtration, so more flow is good. I don't know if a sand filter is biological filtration, it would be in a pond, where sand filters can be used, but I dont' really understand the mechanism of if that would mean that slow throughput would be good. I guess chlorine is actually chemical filtration.... and that would seem to be independant of flow rate through the filter, as long as you maintain good circulation to keep the chlorine moving into the places where it is needed.
Which is to say, I don't know but I am interested in the answer.
Anona, still a novice
Well biological filtration in a pool is a big no. The chlorine in pools will kill off any biological filtration that would ever set up housekeeping in a filter system. Sand, Cartridge and DE are all mechanical filters, running water through porous filters to trap the particles so they do not return to the pool.
All of the filter types filter better at lower flow rates. At higher flow rates there is more water pressure trying to push the dirt through, so more dirt gets through. The difference isn't huge, but it is noticeable.
The slower the water goes through a sandfilter the better, this is part of the reason why commercial tanks are so big (not just fiction losses and bigger pumps/pools) but their recommended flow rate is a lot slower than a domestic pool (gpm/squarefoot filter)
Not quite accurate. Been keeping freshwater and salt/reef tanks since the early 60's (had my first fresheateraquarium when I was 6! and kept freshwater through high school.) Been keeping exclusively salt since the mid 70's and have kept tanks from 2 gal to 150 gal (at the height of my insanity I had 9 reef and invertebrate tanks in my house when I lived in Miami!) so I have experimented with many types of filters, both bought and home brewed.anonapersona said:
This is also true of aquarium filtration. FWIW Pentair sells EXACTLY the same sand filters for pool and large aquairum/pond usage under different names. jAquairums also use slow sand filters for mechaical filtration and the slower the rate, the better the filtration. High flow rates are more likely to push dirt particles through the filter media.Aquaclear-NZ said: