What to do with DE?

[jcowart]

What do you do with used DE. I have a well used pillow case on the end of my backwash hose. I might add that I have a perflex "bump" filter so it's gravity backwashed and not under pressure. I ask because my brother-in-law went from a sand filter to a house with an I/G pool and DE filter. The first giggle I had was when he said "I guess the sand goes in that thing". We took it apart and gave it a good cleaning but I noticed the leftover mess from all the backwashes.

 

[Isaac-1]

It depends on your location, in many / most areas you can wash it down the drain

 

[jcowart]

It depends on your location, in many / most areas you can wash it down the drain

Yes that's the norm for city folks, we both use aerated septic systems. I just let the pillow case drain and dump a clump of DE on the burn pile. His is just out in the yard and it looks like a mess. We tried a pillow case on his but it just shot off the hose. I don't think it could drain fast enough. Like I said, mine is well used. You can't quite read a news paper through it but it's close. Just looking for ideas when down the drain or sewer is not an option.

 

[Isaac-1]

Perhaps mix it with some sort of clumping agent and dispose with the regular trash?

 

[Richard320]

Use it for a late-night snack...as a topping for ice cream... mixed with sour cream for a zesty dip... just kidding.

If you've got some land, scatter or bury it. It's supposed to kill insects.

Or say goodbye to the pillowcase and chuck it all in the trash...or a dumpster behind some business, late at night.

:jocolor:

 

[Isaac-1]

If you want more excitement in your life take it to any Federal building and ask them how you can dispose of your bag of fine white powder

 

[tcat]

If you have a garden, you can put it at bottom of plants to keep insects away.

 

[techguy]

I will normally place the used DE in my "green" waste bin for collection as we get regular collection of yard waste.

 

[RobbieH]

If you want more excitement in your life take it to any Federal building and ask them how you can dispose of your bag of fine white powder

I literally laughed out loud!

 

[chiefwej]

Switch to cellulose, problem solved.

It does cost a bit more, but DE cost is pretty minimal in operating a pool. It does a better job, Eco-friendly, bio degradable and safer to handle.

 

[maxepr1]

I though mine over the fence, not sure what my neighbor does with it.

 

[jeremy]

I am confused about this whole "used DE" conversation. How are you collecting used DE powder?

The one or two times I backwashed, the dirty water went all over the place. I still haven't quite figured out where to direct the backwash, though i bought a long enough hose to dump it anywhere in the yard...

 

[tcat]

Mine drains into the yard and then a pond. I never saw any white powder lingering. I switched to Zeofiber at the end of last season. For as little as you use, it really doesn't cost much and does a great job.

 

[techguy]

For me, the easiest is to take the head off the filter, let the DE settle, remove the union, lean the filter body over to our out the water (leaving the DE slurry in the filter body) and then pour the dirty DE slurry into my green waste can over the yard waste that's already there. I then leave the lid of the waste can open to encourage evaporation of the water. I can lift my filter body and dead DE pretty easily and carry it to my front yard.

I have converted over to cellulose except for this season I found one bag of DE in my garage. So this summer I am using DE. The cellulose is rinsed to the ground behind my filter. it's just fancy saw dust in my mind.

My new PoolSkim is taking most of my waste load off my filter. I now get very little debris into my skimmer body. the Pool Skim removes fist fulls of crepe myrtle blooms each day and they never get into the filter. I can now vacuum (via aquabot DiverDan) twice a week and be fine.

 

[chiefwej]

I am confused about this whole "used DE" conversation. How are you collecting used DE powder?

The one or two times I backwashed, the dirty water went all over the place. I still haven't quite figured out where to direct the backwash, though i bought a long enough hose to dump it anywhere in the yard...

Well, my system actually has a separation tank that strains the used filter media out of the back flow water. They are required in some areas.

 

[jeremy]

Well, my system actually has a separation tank that strains the used filter media out of the back flow water. They are required in some areas.

Hmm, is that recommended to use if I will be dumping the backflow water onto the lawn?