Swimming pool and spa filtration when working properly, provide the means of maintaining your pool water in a clean, clear and pristine condition, but only if it is programmed to operate 7 days a week on a regular year round schedule and is maintained. The key to keeping your pool or spa water sparkling is to have whichever pool filtration system you may chosen, operating effectively and efficiently.
There are basically two types of swimming pool filtration commonly used today and each have their advantages as well as their drawbacks. There is the high-rate sand and the cartridge type. The sand filter can use either sand, glass, or zeolite as a filtration medium where the cartridge type has pleated elements made from paper, cotton, or polyester.
Sand filtration , can filter pool water down to around 20 - 30 micron. (A human hair is about 90 microns.) A pool cartridge filter is finer again at 10 – 20 microns. Some argue a cartridge filter will give more protection from bacteria, which is a complete fallacy. Bacteria generally range in size from 0.3 to 5 microns and E. coli as an example are 2 microns long by nearly 1 micron wide so neither filter will eliminate bacteria. That’s why there are pool chemical sanitizers. Filtration and sanitization together will help avoid the need for green pool recovery especially as the water temperature increases and with the benefit of today's modern heating systems. Pool heaters today can be very energy efficient and include solar pool heating, gas heating or electric heat pumps.
The filter medium inside a swimming pool sand filter should be changed about every three years. Sand filters need backwashing regularly to avoid the accumulation of gunk becoming calcified and hard like sandstone. This results in the water taking the course of least resistance and finding its way through holes in the calcified sand, without any degree of filtration. The pool filter will be more efficient, and the filter medium will last longer if the filter is back-washed regularly of using the multi-port valve , about once a month and after you vacuum the pool.
The pool cartridge filter may be a single cartridge or multiple cartridges, inside usually a cylindrical tank. It’s very simple to operate, provided it has been assembled correctly, just turn the pump on. Some may suggest you can leave a cartridge filter for months before cleaning it, but our recommendation is monthly or even before, if the pressure gauge has noticeably moved up say 8 to 10 psi from its usual setting with clean filters. Every swimming pool collects debris at different rates, some may need more attention than others, disassembling a filter housing and hosing the elements might take half an hour.
The difference in performance between the two pool filtration systems, as far as water clarity and quality is concerned is largely academic. From a hygiene perspective there is virtually no difference, both systems if neglected will accumulate gunk inside the filter housing. Maintenance takes a little longer with the cartridge filter because it must be disassembled and reassembled, where the sand filter can be back-washed in about three minutes.
The model choice of either swimming pool filter comes down to the water flow rate. That is the volume of water that can pass through the filter in a set amount of time. A good starting point is determining the flow rate needed to filter the entire pool water volume in six hours, which is the recommended pool filtration time for winter. This means the entire pool volume will be turned over in one cycle in winter and gives two hours more running time in summer when an eight-hour running cycle is the minimum recommended run time. Recommended run times also consider chlorine production level requirements for salt chlorinated pools.
A deciding factor in the choice of swimming pool filtration type may be the physical size of the filter itself. It may be there is a restricted amount of space available and where the more rotund swimming pool sand filter can’t physically be squeezed in, the usually taller, slimmer cartridge filter fits quite comfortably. As important as it is to have the right pumps, filters and chlorinators it is equally important to carry out regular water testing. Poor water quality can often result in algae becoming established. Leisure Time Pool Maintenance specialize in the full range of pool and spa care services at affordable prices. It can be daunting when your residential pool becomes dull and cloudy as the weather gets hotter, let us carry out a comprehensive water analysis using state of the art digital testing equipment and we will have it back to crystal in no time. To help keep the pool floor clean we also offer a range of robotic cleaners.
