cartridge filter sizing (replacing existing)

[gwar9999]

We have a 13,000 gallon irregularly shaped pool which has an estimated surface area of 332 sq ft. FWIW, the pump is 1.5 HP, The current Mitra filter is ancient and is specified for 100 sq ft. I see that most filters are specified by sq ft so I'm not sure why the original owner installed such a small filter considering the surface area of the pool. Should I really replace this filter with a 332+ sq ft model or could I get by with a 250 sq ft (eg. Jandy CS250)? Obviously, I've gotten by with the 100 sq ft filter for quite some time (which has forced me to clean the filter quite often, once/week in the summer, once/month otherwise and once every day or two in the event of algae).

The reason I ask, the current filter has a small footprint and is installed in a spot that could only accommodate a similarly sized filter, so the Jandy CS250 would be a good fit, if a 250 sq ft filter is adequate. However, if I should install a larger footprint filter, I could do some additional plumbing to locate it in a different area.

If the Jandy CS250 isn't adequate I was leaning towards the StaRite System 3 SM but the replacement filters seem ridiculously expensive. The features that were most important to me are toolless access to the cartridge-- it seems like many of the larger footprint filters require a wrench (or similar) for access. Also, the cost of the filter and cost of replacement cartridges are important factors. Other than that I'm not sure what makes one filter better than another (considering I would suspect that any filter would be better than the one I currently have).

Thanks for any info

 

[dmanb2b]

I may be wrong here, but I do not think the 250 refers to the sq ft of the pool the pump is rated for, but rather the amount of filter media in the cartridge. If so, the 250 would be 2.5x larger than your current filter and you would be cleaning it roughly half as much as your old filter. I'm thinking that is a nice filter if it will fit...it's rated for 45,000 gal in a 6 hour turn over

 

[gwar9999]

Thanks for the quick response. That makes much more sense. Looks like I'll probably be purchasing the Jandy then since it's the biggest small form factor filter I could find (most other mfrs have 200 sq ft or less). One additional question, would this filter media necessarily have deeper pleats than a similarly sized (height wise) 100 sq ft cartridge to compensate for the difference in surface area of the filter media? Reason I ask, one interesting selling point of the Sta Rite larger form factor filter was that it claims to have shallower pleats to make for easier cleanings. I certainly wouldn't want to have to deal with deeper pleats than my current 100 sq ft filter because it already requires a significant effort to clean it thoroughly (probably 20 minutes on avg). Granted I'd be cleaning less often but I wouldn't want to offset that with longer cleaning times.