Filter for your pool

Posted on Jun 10, 2014 | Comments (0)

The principle of filtration may be old and simple, but modern technologies allow for manufacture of more sophisticated filters that are able to remove not only large particles from the water, but also the ones invisible to the naked eye.

There are two types of filters commonly used in residential swimming pools:

Quartz Sand Filters

This type of filter is either a glass or metallic reservoir that's filled with a particular type of sand called the "Quartz Sand". Each grain of this sand is a tiny cube.

The density of the sand is low enough to let the water pass through, but just high enough to filter any impurities. The sand in the filter will last you up to 5 years, but it needs to be "backwashed" fairly often.
  

Because all the dirt that got filtered out of the water simply remains in the filter, it gets dirty quite fast and needs to be backwashed every 2 weeks during the summer (the higher is the water temperature, the more frequently it needs to be filtered and consequently the filter gets filled faster). If you signed up for a season-long service package with a pool maintenance company, they will generally perform this procedure biweekly, but you could also generally pay for a single maintenance visit for a one-time filter backwash.

Quartz Sand filters have different throughput, so be sure to pick a filter of appropriate size for your pool. On average, your filter must be big enough to cycle the entire volume of your pool in 5-6 hours.

Cartridge Filters

Cartridge filters are a reservoir with a removable lid. This reservoir houses a plastic bag that collects all the dirt that has been filtered out of your water. Cartridge filters are able to efficiently filter the water in your pool, but they do have a number of downsides.

Cartridge filters cannot be backwashed, which makes them more difficult to clean.

They require replacement every 2-3 years as opposed to Quartz Sand filters, which only need to be replaced once every 5 years. The cartridges are also quite expensive and for this reason pool owners generally choose sand filters over cartridge filters.