You know what one of my biggest pet peeves is? Floaties in my drink. And with five kids I know that if I give someone a sip, there’s going to be some backwash going on!
I can cope with giving up my ice cold soda, but there’s another type of backwashing that annoys pool owners on a weekly basis. You know what I’m talking about…sand filters. No, there’s nothing wrong with sand filters. Heck, I grew up on them. But geesh, it just seems like such a waste of resources. Let’s take a closer look.
Here’s what you get with a sand filter:
- Filtration at about 20 microns (that’s fancy talk for particle size)
- The need to backwash the filter every week or two (depending on the system)
- The subsequent loss of water and chemicals
- Water discharged all over the place (depending on your situation)
Ok, so that ain't all that bad right?....I mean, if you have a pool at all your pretty dang lucky (in my book anyway). But what if there were a better system out there? Well, anyone who follows us at all knows we’re fans of cartridge filters.
Here’s why we prefer cartridge filters over sand
- They filter at about 3-5 microns
- No backwashing…at all
- Only requires maintenance a couple times a season (depending on the system)
The single biggest gripe we hear about cartridge filters is that they have to be cleaned too frequently. Well yeah…if the filter’s too small they do. The key is to oversize the filter, which means less frequent cleaning, plus the filters last longer that way (about one season). When you take this into consideration, sand simply doesn’t make sense…maybe I’m just confused, you tell me!
Either way one thing’s for sure, I may not be able to save the world from backwashing sand filters, but I can save my soda from the kids…just kidding, I share :)
What do you think? Still fighting for sand?
Up Next:
The Ultimate Guide to Inground Swimming Pool Maintenance
Swimming Pool Sanitizers: The 7 Best Options to Consider (Pros/Cons)
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