Chemical cleaning of the sand filter, what to use, etc.

[joseywales]

I have a Pentair sand filter that is going on its 5th year of use. Some facts and I welcome any comments:

1 - I have never changed the sand.

2 - I backwash once per year.

3 - I have pollen and dust on the bottom of the pool EVERY day and am starting to think it might be the filter.

4 - I will backwash for 3 minutes and follow the manual.

5 - Manual also recommends a Chemical Cleaning. Is this necessary and what to do you recommend I use?

thanks,

 

[Richard320]

It might be better to just try a deep cleaning rather than pouring unknown chemicals into the water... if you get my drift. my-sand-is-channeled-how-to-fix-it-t7626.html

 

[JasonLion]

There is almost never any need to do a chemical cleaning. The chemical cleaner is designed for one specific issue, when the filter has become saturated with oils, which is actually incredibly uncommon.

 

[jblizzle]

I agree with the others, but want to point that that you should be backwashing whenever the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure ... maybe you have a clean pool and that is only once a year.

Check out the link Richard provided.

 

[joseywales]

Thanks all. I did check out the link and will first perform a thorough, 3 minute backwash. If that doesn't do it, I will complete the cleaning as described.

My pressure doesn't change that much, which is why I didn't see this coming.

With the cleaning, am I simply laying an open hose (one with no nozzle) on top of the filter and allowing the water to slowly run in and over flow the filter?

 

[jblizzle]

3 minutes is not some magic number ... you need to backwash as long as it take for the water to be clear.

Even after doing that, you will be surprised by the amount of gunk that will come out if you follow the cleaning method ... and no you are supposed to slowly and gently move the running hose down throughout the sand bed to get any dirt out and resettle the sand and let the dirt overflow out.

 

[joseywales]

3 minutes is not some magic number ... you need to backwash as long as it take for the water to be clear.

Even after doing that, you will be surprised by the amount of gunk that will come out if you follow the cleaning method ... and no you are supposed to slowly and gently move the running hose down throughout the sand bed to get any dirt out and resettle the sand and let the dirt overflow out.

Thanks. The hard part for me has always been that the water never looks dirty. It just seems to end up at the bottom of the pool. I will look closely though. My pool water is clear. Thanks for tip on using the hose. I didn't want to move too much, as it said in the other thread.