A sand filter usually only needs to be cleaned every 5 years or so. A DE filter requires cleaning at least once annually. To clean it, remove the internal grid assembly and clean it well. A cartridge filter doesn't backwash.
As a general rule of thumb, you should backwash and rinse your filter about once a fortnight. The optimal time is right after you vacuum the pool. However, if your pool has had a lot more use than normal, it may be necessary to backwash once a week.
Rinse the filter for about 1 to 2 minutes or until the water in the sight glass is clear. NOTE: Any electric heater must be off. Stop the pump. Turn the lever to RINSE, start the pump and rinse for about 15-30 seconds.
A pool sand filter uses sand to catch contaminants in your pool's water. Pool water is circulated through special filter grade pool sand. From time to time, you will need to clean your sand filter by backwashing it.
Watch the pressure gauge for spikes. After the hose fills with water, backwash your sand filter for 2 - 3 minutes, or until water runs clear.
When you first install a sand filter or renew the sand, you may indeed get a small amount of sand coming out when backwashing, rinsing or filtering. Often, excess sand gets into the wrong places when refilling and will sand to come out into the pool or out of the backwash hose. But it should go away after a few runs.
Add diatomaceous earth (DE) to your pool skimmer, stick to around a scoop or two – no more than the size of a 1lb coffee cup. The moment you do this, go to the pool jets to see if it is returning DE into the pool, or if the water suddenly looks cloudy. If it is, you likely have an issue with your filter.
I usually just put some in a bucket run some tap water through it with my fingers for a minute or so and then dump the cloudy water. I do this probably 4 or 5 times for each amount of sand before I put it in the tank.
The 'Rinse' setting should be used after backwashing and again run just for a minute or two. On this setting the water is flowing through the filter in the normal direction but once again is being sent to the waste pipe rather than being returned to the pool.
Can You Backwash Too Much? If you backwash your pool too much i.e. time duration and/or close frequency then yes you can cause a lot of problems. Some problems that can arise from backwashing your sand pool filter too much are: Loss of water – 500+ litres of water can be lost in each backwashing cycle.
Rinse runs water in the same direction that normal filtering does. Backwash runs it through the sand in the opposite direction. Rinse is to clear any dirt out of the clean side of the sand before you start sending it back to the pool.
If the pool is affected by algae, the pool filters can get clogged very quickly. Algae are tiny aquatic plants (or organisms) that grow in pools and in large groups. These plants can clog up the filter easily during pool water circulation.
Whenever the filter fills up with the dirt/debris it reduces the flow of water to your pool. Low flow = poor circulation which will lead to algae in the pool. Bottom line, the filter must be backwashed on a regular basis to ensure that your pool water is clear.
Typically, you should backwash a pool if the pressure gauge on your filter is at 8-10PSI at the starting level. So, to answer the question of how often should you backwash your pool, check your PSI. If the filter runs well at 16PSI and then goes up to 25PSI, your pool needs a backwash.
Is pool Filter Sand Safe for Aquariums? Yes. If used as a filter medium, any kind of pool filter sand is safe for use. However, if you will be using the sand as a substrate material, use only natural or silica sand.
I've grown plants in poolfilter sand. Plants grow great ans very easy to plant in, so no issue there. The downsides I found was the color, don't really like it. Sand grains are so small and light its easy to suck some up with the filter,siphon what have you.
Replacement sand for your sand filter typically costs around $25 per 50-pound bag, and your filter may require 100 to 600 pounds or more depending on the size and model. More than likely, you'll need about 350 pounds of sand for an average-sized inground pool filter.
Changing the pool filter sand is a bit of a pain, especially in the back region, but a bag of pool filter sand costs around R90 at your local Builders Warehouse, and you should only need two bags for most pool filters.
Too much sand and your filter will likely not run correctly or may break when reassembling. Too little sand and you will have cloudy water no matter how much your filter runs.
You can reuse the filter sand if it's still in good shape. Generally, pool filter sand lasts about 5-7 years before it wears out and needs to be replaced (except for very small filters used on aboveground pools, which usually need new sand much sooner.
Your filter may be clean and normal at 9-10 psi, but your neighbor's filter gauge could run higher, and be clean at 15-16 psi. Some systems with very low resistance can run very low pressures, barely registering, while other filter systems can run quite high, pushing 30 psi when the filter becomes dirty.
You need chemicals with a sand filter because they require sanitization, phosphate removal, pH adjustments, and alkalinity alterations.
If you see it blowing out into the pool, something is broken. The most common problem is a cracked lateral, which is one of the perforated pipes at the bottom of the filter that catches water that has circulated through the sand.
If your pool water is dirty, the bottom of your pool will be too. The best way to keep your pool clean is by keeping the water clean. To do this, add shock and algaecide as necessary. This stops any unpleasant algae from growing in your pool.