HELP!!! My manufacture says to use natural sand and my local stores say to go with the Zeosand... What do you guys use and are there any drawbacks to using either or? Thanks
Natural sand vs Zeo Sand
- Thread starter TroyTate
- Start date
Zeo filters a bit better, but has a fairly high complaint rate. Because of the frequency of problems we don't recommend it.
Folks on here use both. Natural sand is a given with no surprises. There have been enough troublesome posts about Zeo on here that I would not recommend it.
First let me say compared to the first two respondents I am like Sergeant Shultz, I know nothing.
That said I have been using Zeo for a year or so with no problems at all. I replaced an old DE filter that was a part time job to keep up with the broken grids on but kept the water sparkling. The sand filter with zeo keeps my water looking every bit as nice but can be backwashed and rinsed in five minutes. I don't miss the DE at all. Even though my system can go so long without backwashing that I upgraded the guage because I was worried something was wrong wih the old one, it is nice to have a filter so easy to service that if the pool ever got so out of hand that I had to clean the filter a few times a day while shocking, I wouldn't be cursing the pool.
So far I love it. If that ever changes I guess I'll just throw out the zeo and put sand in it. Either way let us know what you decide.
That said I have been using Zeo for a year or so with no problems at all. I replaced an old DE filter that was a part time job to keep up with the broken grids on but kept the water sparkling. The sand filter with zeo keeps my water looking every bit as nice but can be backwashed and rinsed in five minutes. I don't miss the DE at all. Even though my system can go so long without backwashing that I upgraded the guage because I was worried something was wrong wih the old one, it is nice to have a filter so easy to service that if the pool ever got so out of hand that I had to clean the filter a few times a day while shocking, I wouldn't be cursing the pool.
So far I love it. If that ever changes I guess I'll just throw out the zeo and put sand in it. Either way let us know what you decide.
I had the same question when I filled my sand filter last month. I ended up going with regular sand as I just did not get a good feeling about the Zeo sand.
Opened the pool with intial cloudy water and the water was crystal clear the next morning, so not sure what the Zeo cold have done better. I'll be sticking with sand becasue it works and (as stated above) "Natural sand is a given with no surprises."
Opened the pool with intial cloudy water and the water was crystal clear the next morning, so not sure what the Zeo cold have done better. I'll be sticking with sand becasue it works and (as stated above) "Natural sand is a given with no surprises."
I am using Zeo. Started last year and will open again this year with Zeo. I am quite happy with it. That being said, the reason I bought the Zeo was because I couldn't find any suitable sand media. It's working perfectly, but I still would have gotten regular sand had I been able to find it. Why? Because of the complaints I have read.
- Apr 23, 2012
- 14
Just wanted to say that I have been using regular sand with my pump thanks to negative posts I read here about ZeoSand and was even told the same by the salesman at Leslies who you would think would want to upsell me to the more expensive ZeoSand but he seemed really honest and helpful. I would go with regular especially if price is a factor because sand sells for anywhere between $3-$10 for 50lbs. bags here depending what store you purchase from and around $24 for a bag of ZeoSand.
Thank all you for your response. After reading all your post and and doing a little research, I think I'm going with regular sand. Again thank you all!!! 
My builder suggested a sand filter for all of the reasons listed above. Easy to use and hands-free cleaning. Trouble is that it only provides relatively coarse filtering. However, after adding a robotic cleaner that filters down to 2-3 microns I really don't feel like the sand filter's coarseness is an issue any more. In fact, since adding the robotic to my pool cleaning regimen I only need to backwash the sand filter every 3-4 months. Bottom line: I was considering zeosand for its fine filtering capability but not any more based on the feedback from other posters and the filtering performance of adding a robotic cleaner.
3 seasons on sand, no problems here.
One of the local pool places here only carries Zeo....I know the only reason is because the profit margin is better, his competitor carries sand and got my business.
one thing I learned during my pool research is that the old tried and tested methods of pool care just work, nothing wrong with new things but they aren't better just because their new.
One of the local pool places here only carries Zeo....I know the only reason is because the profit margin is better, his competitor carries sand and got my business.
one thing I learned during my pool research is that the old tried and tested methods of pool care just work, nothing wrong with new things but they aren't better just because their new.
Similar threads
