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Home-pool filters
Types of Pool
Filters available
There are three
main types of pool filters: Cartridge, Sand, and Diatomaceous Earth
(DE).
In a cartridge filter the water flows into a tank which contains one
or more cylinder shaped cartridges that have fine mesh material. The
tight mesh fabric is able to strain out the impurities. Cleaning the
cartridge is simple because all you need to do is remove the
cartridge, wash it and put it back in the filter.
The sand filter looks like a large ball and is two to four feet in
diameter. The older models are generally located inside metal tanks.
The sand contained in the filter is able to strain the impurities
from the water as the water pushes its way through the filter. A
multiport or piston backwash valve at the top of the unit is the
entrance for the water, then the water sprays over the sand and the
sharp edges of the sand grains catch the impurities in the water.
Then the water is pushed out of the filter through the bottom
manifold. The individual drains of the manifold drains are called
laterals. The bottom of the tank contains a drain pipe so that the
water is able to empty when necessary.
The Diatomaceous Earth (DE) filter contains a tank which has filter
elements that are actually several fabric covered grids. The fabric
is encrusted with Diatomaceous Earth (DE). DE is composed of
billions of fossilized plankton that actually capture and hold the
dirt. It is a fine white powder found in the ground. The DE acts as
a filter by permitting water to filter through
the DE cake and leave the impurities behind. The DE filter has the
ability to filter out microscopic elements.
You need to determine what size filter functions best with your pool
or spa. It must be the proper size according to the pool or spa's
circulation system. In order to determine this, take the square
footage of the surface area of the filter media, which equals the
total square footage of the grids. The most common filter has eight
grids with a total of 24 to 72 square feet. The tank contains grids
that are two to five feet high and approximately two feet in
diameter. If the filter did not contain the filter grids, the DE
would be a massive cake when wet; this would obviously be
impossible for water to flow through.
The two main types of DE filters are the vertical grid and the spin
type grid.
The vertical grid filters are put together vertically on a manifold.
In order to secure the grid to the manifold, a holding wheel is
used, and a retaining rod screws into the base of the tank so that
the assembly will be secure. The manner in which this system
operates is that the water goes into
the tank from the bottom, then flows upward and around the exterior
of the grids. Then the water flows down the stem of each grid into
the manifold, then out of the filter.
The spin filter is out of date. It is not found on newer pools, but
may still be found on older pools. The wheel shaped grids line up
horizontally (looking like a box of a dozen donuts). The operation
is similar to that of the vertical grid filter, but in order to
clean the spin filter, you must
turn a crank to spin the grids. It is not very effective.
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