DE and sand filter

[Mesamav]

Hey guys,
I just wanted to let the new guys know that adding a little DE to your sand filter works wonders.
A good friend of mine is in the process of purchasing a house and I was elected to fill the pool and get it up and running. I did that and I couldn't believe water could be so clear. His pool was completely empty with about 2 inches of dirt and leaves on the bottom.
Anyway, I cleaned and scrubbed the bottom before filling and once filled I got the chemicals in check but I was amazed at how clear it was. My pool has never been that sparkling, crystal clear so I added about 4 cups of DE into the skimmer and literally within 2 hours, my pool was visibly clearer and 4 hours later, my pool was absolutely crystal clear. I had to backwash 3 times and add new DE since yesterday but I couldn't be happier.

Just wanted to say thank to all you guys. You've been a great help.

 

[karmazrevenge]

Great! Did you notice an increase in pump pressure when you did it? How do you know how much to add? I bought DE but haven't added it to the sand yet.

 

[JasonLion]

karmazrevenge, there is an article in Pool School that describes the complete procedure.

 

[karmazrevenge]

Oh! I'll have to check it out. I need to get better about checking back there for things!

 

[Mesamav]

Great! Did you notice an increase in pump pressure when you did it? How do you know how much to add? I bought DE but haven't added it to the sand yet.

What I did was backwash to get a fresh filter, I added 4 cups of DE (probably a bit of overkill) and two things happened in two hours. My water was a LOT LESS cloudy and yes, my pump pressure went from 17 to over 30 psi. I backwashed again, I added 3 cups of DE and did it again and again the water got even clearer in a short time and again my filter pressure went up. Backwashed again with 2 cups of DE and about 5 hours later my water was CRYSTAL SPARKLING CLEAR but I also had to backwash once more but this time I only added 1 cup of DE and my pressure seems to be holding at about 19 psi and the water looks picture perfect.
Give it a try. You can't hurt anything and it will work wonders. Not only that, it hardly costs anything for a 10 lb bag of DE.
One other thing. I've used the fake DE stuff and that didn't seem to work anywhere near as well as the regular DE. Maybe I'm crazy but the real DE worked wonders for my pool.