Alternative to DE

[DerrikM]

Moved from here.

I switched and I have had no problems. Here's a thread: the-claims-may-be-correct-t28130.html

I will say that it doesn't backwash out any better than DE in my experience. The last time, after backflushing for a minute or so, I shut everything down, opened the filter, and blasted the screens with a hose nozzle. No disassembly, just blasted them in place. Then I reassembled it and backflushed again until the water was clear. The beauty of it was that I was able to discharge it onto the lawn. No worries about whether it was legal to let DE into the storm drains, no white crust left behind, no trying to feed it to the sanitary sewer.

I will also caution that the old rule-of-thumb about 10 psi rise doesn't work well. I noticed things seemed to be slowing down, yet the pressure was only up from 16 to 22. In the future, when I hit 20, that's it.

@Richard320
Are you still using Cellulose Fiber instead of DE? Just wondering if you're still happy with it. I am considering trying it myself.
Thanks

 

[ajw22]

I tried using cellulose fiber in my Pentair FNS DE filter. I found it clogged too easily, I was needing to backwash more often, and my flow would decrease. It did not make any visible differnce in the clarity of my water over DE. Overall it was a Pain and not worth the hassles with no visible benefits. I went back to natural DE at the end of that season. YMMV.

 

[Rocco]

I use cellulose fiber from the very beginning purely to stay away from the health dangers associated with DE and have never used DE. I am very happy with it but do know that it takes a significant amount of backwash and rinsing to remove most of it from the grids. As a result I breakdown the filter at least once per season to fully clean the grids and re-charge with fiber.

I have tried a few brands and as much as it hurts to say this the Leslie's brand fiber is the best in my opinion.

 

[Richard320]

Moved from here.

@Richard320
Are you still using Cellulose Fiber instead of DE? Just wondering if you're still happy with it. I am considering trying it myself.
Thanks

Yes.

 

[bgray9]

I used the cellulose fiber for a couple years and finally gave up on it. I found it very hard and at times impossible to backwash and get it out, so I was having to break down the filter a lot more often to clean it. I really like the idea of having a DE alternative, but the cellulose just didn't work well for me. I tried a couple different brands.