Sand filter...add pea gravel base or not?...Poll

[Crzyfrlss1]

I'm going to set this up as a poll to see what the consensus is on this matter.
Where would I find this pea gravel?

I've read through alot of older posts on this matter and just want to see what everybody else is doing.

 

[sevver]

I voted undecided, although I would probably go ahead and do it, possibly to a depth of 3" over the laterals approximately. I like the idea of keeping the sand away from the laterals, and feel that it could go a long way towards keeping the sand from going through the return. If I ever need to replace my sand, I will probably go ahead and do that.

 

[Crzyfrlss1]

Does anybody here know what type and size of pea gravel I'm looking for if I decide to go that route.

Does it look like this?
This is "Long Island" pea gravel

 

[Aquaman95]

Not in small residential filters. In large commercial filters it is needed to support the weight of the laterals.

 

[Crzyfrlss1]

Not in small residential filters. In large commercial filters it is needed to support the weight of the laterals.

Now that makes alot of sense to me.
I think you mean to support the weight of the sand...no?

But nonetheless a very good answer.

So now I'm thinking this issue is irrelevant to my size of filter, although 150#'s of silica sand sounds pretty heavy to me.

Thats just I bit more than I weigh :lol:

 

[Hotrod30]

If I were you with 150# filter, I wouldn't add pea gravel.

My filter is 350# and I added 80# of pea gravel. Since the filter, pump were new and I replaced all the pump house 1.5 inch piping with 2 inch piping, I couldn't say if it improved or not. I'm happy with what I have.

I read once that you should use pea gravel for swimming pools. I never found that stuff so I used pea gravel from Lowes and started the filter on backwash and rinsed for awhile. JMHO.

 

[JasonLion]

The Pentair Triton II series suggests the use of pea gravel. They start at 175 lbs of sand.

 

[waste]

I believe I was the first one to vote "YES" - but didn't realize I could add to the post

The gravel serves a couple purposes:

#1 Increases flow around the laterals

#2 Keeps sand out of the pool if a lateral breaks


The filtration is primarily carried on in the top part of the sand, so a few missing inches of 'fine' filter material doesn't make much difference and the added flow around the laterals makes up for it (IMO)

 

[Crzyfrlss1]

I believe I was the first one to vote "YES" - but didn't realize I could add to the post

The gravel serves a couple purposes:

#1 Increases flow around the laterals

#2 Keeps sand out of the pool if a lateral breaks


The filtration is primarily carried on in the top part of the sand, so a few missing inches of 'fine' filter material doesn't make much difference and the added flow around the laterals makes up for it (IMO)

Those sound like definite pluses to me, the other plus is that I can get whatever kind of gravel I need for free :lol: