Looking to replace sand filter with a cartridge

[Hobbsks]

I currently have an old Hayward sand filter rated for 35gpm that is completely discontinued and the top half of the filter is leaking water slowly. I limped thru last years pool season with it. The pool water has always been clear but at night you can see a slight haze or cloudiness to the water and it upsets my OCD a bit. 2 years ago I had to replace the pump and went with the Pentair 1.5hp Vs pump. The pump is probably overkill for the size of pool and is definitely capable of pushing more water then the filter can handle. I have toyed around with the idea of going with a cartridge filter instead of sand. The pool store I normally deal with has told me that with the dust and wind in rural south central Kansas that a cartridge filter is a terrible idea. I was “recommended” the Pentair TA60 and Dr.Drydens glass media....
1. Is a cartridge filter a bad idea in dusty almost always windy as heck Kansas?
2. Is the Pentair TA that much better of a sand filter then the sand dollar?
3. Is this “magic glass” worth the extra expense?
4. Would a DE filter be worth considering?
I’m also looking into buying a robotic cleaner for the pool.

 

[mknauss]

Personally, with a robot, your filter will have far less of everything to deal with.
I live in the desert. It gets pretty dusty here. I have a large cartridge filter (compared to the volume of my pool). I clean it once a year. It has never seen 1 psi of rise above clean.
You will find most people like the filter they have. So hard to nail down pros/cons.
Whatever you get, sand, DE, or cartridge, do not use any 'magic' in them. Sand filters use sand, DE filters use DE.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I like the simplicity of my sand filter. When I want a little *more* sparkle I add a dose of DE to the sand filter and it shines things up nicely.

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.

www.troublefreepool.com

Maddie

 

[cfherrman]

If you size the filter right, it seems a cartridge filter works great. If your worried about our wind and dust just get the next size up. So over size it to begin with then one bigger. There are no problems with over sized filters except cost and footprint.

Except quality control, I have a hard time thinking one brand is better than the other.

Nope, sand. Everything from a pool store is magic, sadly magic doesn't work in the real world.

There are a small amount of zeo owners that do like zeo, but you have to do zeo right and sand + de is just more simple and easy.

Before you get a different type of filter go get some de and put it in your sand filter, good chance you will go with sand again.

 

[setsailsoon]

1. Is a cartridge filter a bad idea in dusty almost always windy as **** Kansas?
2. Is the Pentair TA that much better of a sand filter then the sand dollar?
3. Is this “magic glass” worth the extra expense?
4. Would a DE filter be worth considering?

Here's my $.02 on your questions:

1. Is a cartridge filter a bad idea in dusty almost always windy as **** Kansas?
No, properly sized any of the 3 filter types will work. The only difference is water consumption. The additional dust particles from strong winds are actually pretty large compared to the other things that get trapped in your filter. So it's capacity that's important in this case rather than particle size.
2. Is the Pentair TA that much better of a sand filter then the sand dollar?
All brands use the same principle. Sized correctly they should all work fine.
3. Is this “magic glass” worth the extra expense?
Not familiar with this media. All media have their own particle size distribution and capacity. For most pools sand seems and/or DE or the polyester paper media have characteristics that work.
4. Would a DE filter be worth considering?
Posts on this site and literature indicate DE can trap slightly smaller particles. It's more important that your filter has capacity for the higher load than the smaller particles. Hard to be definitive about this unless you measure particle size distribution and loading. Nobody does that for pools so I would rely on experience which indicates any of the 3 major filter media work well if sized properly for the load.

I hope this helps.

Chris

 

[Donldson]

First, welcome to TFP!

Water clarity begins with water chemistry, and any haze in the water has me suspicious that things might not be entirely correct in that department. Before digging too deeply in to filters could you share a few details about your water chemistry? Specifically how you test your pool (which kit do you use?) and how you chlorinate your pool. It would help us confirm whether a filter change is the right course or whether there might be a simpler and more cost effective solution. Thanks!

 

[Hobbsks]

I have been using the poolmaster 5 way kit the past few years. I will be switching to probably the tf100 this year. I use bio guard smart shock(sodium dichloro-s-triazintrione) and pucks. I recently stumbled on this site and will be changing pool maintenance as I have learned quite a bit from reading thru the articles. My water has been cleared and I haven’t dealt with any algae blooms and rarely used any kind of algicide in the three years I have owned the pool.

 

[mknauss]

poolmaster 5 way kit the past few years

Can you post a complete set of test results? How do you test CYA? It is a critical level to know as you need to follow the FC/CYA Levels

 

[Hobbsks]

The pool is still closed at the moment. The last test I have for cya is 140 which is extremely high.... looks like I will be doing a water transfer when I open the pool. I understand my water chemistry hasn’t been the best in the past and with the information on this site moving forward I can expect better water quality. The purpose of this post is to gather information on filter types and the best not be critiqued about issues with water chemistry from lack of knowledge in the past.

 

[mknauss]

No problem. Anytime someone brings up a filtration issue we check on the chemistry. Majority of time it is a chemistry issue not a filtration issue.

Good luck on your filter hunt.

 

[Flying Tivo]

If replacing filter, i would stick with the sand filter you previously had, no learning curve. The only thing is to get it oversized for your pool which means less backwashing and less working pressure.

 

[cfherrman]

My pool is open and hit 64 degrees on Sunday, it's a good idea to get your open soon after this cold spell passes to avoid any green comming your way. What city to you live in?

 

[Hobbsks]

I live just south of wichita. I have been doing some dirt work and recently planted some sod around the pool and didn't wasn't to open it until I was done. There is supposed to be a cold snap this weekend and I am waiting until after that.
I did find a Pentair DE filter on Amazon with 72GPM flow for less then the Pentair TA60 sand filter. That ended the debate on which filter to get. It should be here monday so I will get the pool up and running then.