In-ground pools a great addition to any home. They keep your children entertained for hours, let you relax in the sun, or get a nice tan. Now, you might be wondering why pools always seem to be so clean, despite the leaves, bugs and other debris that ends up in them. This is because of pool filters. If you didn’t have a pool filter in your pool, the water would turn musty, green and there would be leaves and bugs galore floating in your pool. Obviously, nobody wants to swim in a dirty pool.
There are three different kinds of pool filters. Sand filters work by filtering the dirty water and debris through sand, trapping the debris and cleaning the water in the process. DE filters use diatomaceous earth as a filter material. The dirty water passes through the DE material and is filtered out. It filters down to 5-8 microns in size. The most popular and well-known type of pool filter is the cartridge filter. Nearly the same as the DE filter, the cartridge filter works by using a paper type cartridge – you could think of it as a coffee filter. As the dirty water passes through, the cartridge filter cleans it.
Cleaning a Sand Filter
Cleaning a sand filter is the easiest of all three Locate your multi port valve (also called control valve) Simply switch the valve to BACKWASH mode and wait about 10 minutes Do this every 2-3 weeks depending on pool usage
Cleaning a DE filter
DE filters are the most effective, but also the hardest to clean. First, backwash the pool, keeping the mode on backwash the entire cleaning time. After backwashing, remove the top of the filter. Remove top alignment manifold. Carefully wiggle out all eight of the grids. Clean the filter by using your garden hose or a slightly pressurized washer. Reinstall the filter into the pool, turn off backwash mode
Cleaning a Cartridge Filter
Cartridge filters are the most common, so they will receive the most attention. Remove the cartridge from the pump filter assembly. Spray it down with a garden hose before it dries. If the filter is allowed to dry, it will become extremely hard to remove the dirt and debris. After washing, allow filters to dry thoroughly Use an air compressor shake the filter to remove excess loose particles from the filter’s fabric Fill a 5 gallon bucket with 1 gallon of pool chlorine and 4 gallons of water. Allow the filters to soak in the solution for 3-5 days Remove the filters after 3-5 days and rinse the bucket with water. Dry the filters in the sunlight, brushing off any dirt that might have been attracted to the filter Mix a solution of acid that will dissolve the minerals that build up in the filter – Add 3 gallons of water and 1 ½ quarts of acid to the solution. Allow the filters to soak in this solution until the acid stops bubbling Remove the filters and rinse with plenty of fresh water, ensuring you remove all of the acid and any dirt that still might remain Reinstall the filters – enjoy!
