is there a consensus?

[zea3]

Also the uv system will deplete the chlorine more quickly. Its really only practical for indoor pools and large commercial pools in special cases. Your average outdoor pool will not see any appreciable benefit from using ozone.

As far as which type of filter is best it really depends on your situation. Do you get a lot of organic debris, or blowing dust in your yard? Would your family be heavy sunscreen users? Are there water restrictions in your area? Some areas require a DE separation tank to manage the used DE from the filter. A large cartridge or sand filter would be easier to maintain than a DE filter in these cases. I must say DE really does add a nice polish to the water. I had a DE filter for several years and I loved the clarity, but cleaning it was a pain. I replaced it with a sand filter.

As far as equipment brands, any of the major brands will give you a good product. I would make sure whoever you buy equipment from was an authorized dealer for whichever equipment they sell so that they can handle any warranty issues that come up.

 

[pabeader]

Be a great friend and make them get the SWG. Even if you have to beat them into submission.

 

[Saturn94]

When sized right and the pool maintained properly, you really shouldn't need to clean them more than once per year. Most often, cartridges are not sized properly for a pool so people complain about the cleaning frequency. Bigger is better and I only clean mine once per year and don't really need to since there is only a 1 PSI rise in the filter.

This is certainly the case with my DE filter (oversized). I charge it with DE at spring opening and give it a thorough cleaning in the fall at closing....that's it. No backwashing or maintenance during the swim season even though there are lots of surrounding trees and shrubs dumping debris in the pool all season. Over the entire season I only get a 2-3 PSI rise.

 

[krfuquamd]

Thanks everyone. All makes sense and I will plan on going with an SWG.

Right now I have a Jandy .75 HP pump and as I indicated I am concerned it is not adequate enough. In order to get a nice flow of water out of the waterfall i have to divert most of the return away from the pool wall returns to the waterfall. I do not consider this ideal. i feel like i should be able to send 50% each direction and get good flow thru both waterfall and wall returns(3). Same guy who mentioned a UV system or a SWG said he could put in a 1.5HP unit( single speed ) and I'd have plenty of flow. Seem reasonable?

I just bought replacement Pleatco cartridge filters for the pool filter so for now may stick with existing cart filter.