Swimming Pool Filters 101 - What You Need To Know About
Pool Filters
What is The Purpose of a Swimming Pool
Filter System?
The main purpose of the swimming pool filter system
is to keep your pool water clear and clean. All the different types of
pool filters are manufactured for the removal of airborne dirt
and leaves, organic matter introduced by bathers and other organisms such
as bacteria and algae. This mechanical entrapping process is achieved
through different techniques which lead us to the 3 main types of swimming
pool filters: cartridge pool filters, diatomaceous earth pool filters,
and sand pool filters.
  
Cartridge Swimming Pool Filters
 Looking
for top-end filter performance with the lowest maintenance? Look at a
cartridge pool filter. This long proven design uses special filter elements
to strip particles from pool water with great effectiveness...particles
as small as 25-100 microns in size (particles smaller than 40 microns
cannot be seen by the human eye). Maintenance of a cartridge filter is
easy. Open the top. Remove the cartridge. Hose it off. That's it.
Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) Pool Filters
Filtering with a diatomaceous earth (D.E.) pool filter results not just
in clean water, but water that really sparkles. That's because D.E. pool
filters remove particles as small as 3–5 microns. Even though particles
smaller than 40 microns can't be seen with the naked eye, large quantities
of these microscopic contaminants have a very noticeable effect on water
clarity. And a D.E. pool filter strips them away.
Sand Swimming Pool Filters
Sand pool filters are one of the most popular ways to filter water. For
good reasons. They are simple, effective, and require very little attention.
Pool water is routed through a sand-filled pressure vessel. Over time,
dirt accumulates in the spaces between the sand particles, causing the
pressure in the vessel to rise as water finds it harder to pass through.
This signals you to "backwash" the filter. Simply reverse the
water flow and "knock out" the dirt. What could be simpler?
Sand Filters can filter out particles as small as 20 microns.
Maximizing Your Swimming Pool Filter's Potential
Whatever style of pool filter you choose you will want to set up your
filtration system keeping the following two objectives in mind:
- First, is to maximize the filtration area. Because more filter area
means much longer periods between cleanings.
- Second, is to design a system that requires the least amount of pumping
power to achieve a needed flow rate. Because lower pumping power means
lower utility costs.
Maximizig the filtration area means that you want to purchase a filter
that is a larger size than the minimum required size for your swimming
pool's capacity. The larger the filter area, the less often you will need
to clean the filter, which means more time spent enjoying, not maintaining,
your swimming pool.
Designing a system that will require the least amount of pumping power
to achieve the needed flow rate will have everything to do with the recommended
flow rate of the pool filter you purchase and the size of your pools plumbing.
With these two factors close in mind you can size your pool pump successfully
to fit your filtration needs.
So Which Swimming Pool Filter Is Right For You?
The answer to this question depends on what is more important to you,
water clearity or ease of operation. If you want to have the cleanest,
clearest water in your town you'll want to find more information about
purchasing a diatomaceous earth (D.E.) filter. If the ease of simply backwashing
your sand filter or spraying off a cartridge a couple times a year seems
to good to pass up you should learn more about these two types of pool
filters to decide which is best suited to your application. At any rate,
remember the two keys of maximizing your swimming pool filtration system
and plan accordingly.
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