How to choose the optimal filter for your swimming pool

Swimming Pool
July 23, 2024
Lorraine Alice
8 images

Regardless of whether the swimming pool is indoor or outdoor, it must be properly cleaned. And if it is quite possible to cope without any equipment with the garbage that floats on the surface, then the process of water purification should be done by a special device called pool filter.

The concept and operation of filters

Filters for water purification in the pool do not have supercomplex design. With the help of the pump, the dirty water enters first into the water intake, then into the system that passes the flow through itself, simultaneously detaining harmful impurities and even microscopic fractions. After that, the purified and bathing water comes back to the tank.

Types of filters for the pool

Sand, diatom, and cartridge filters are using to clean the home and public swimming pools. The principle of operation of these devices is the same, but the “filling” is different.

Sand filter

Pool filter sand is a bulky tank full of quartz sand. Advanced variations – a mixture of sand, gravel and anthracite, glass sand.

Benefits:

well retains particles up to 20 microns;
requires replacing the “filler” no more than once every three years (for glass sand, this period increases to five years);
it is inexpensive, also a similar design can be made independently.

Disadvantages:

the filter is quickly clogged (it will have to be washed at least once a couple of weeks);
the tank takes up a lot of space: it is not always convenient to use at home, but it is ideal for large outdoor pools.

Diatomaceous earth filter

Cartridges of the device are filled with diatom earth – a kind of silicon soil, consisting of petrified particles of plankton.

Benefits:

removes particles of up to 3 microns from the water;
neutralizes harmful microorganisms;
softens water, saturating it with silicon.

Disadvantages:

a filter of this type doesn’t have a high resource;
not subject to recovery – only replacement;
due to the specific nature of the active compound, it is very expensive.

Pool cartridge filter

The device consists of a whole system of cartridges with polypropylene membranes. It is much more effective than the same sand options but costs more.

Benefits:

copes with particles up to 10 microns;
suitable for small, including inflatable pools.

Disadvantages:

cartridges should be regularly washed, however, they can be replaced with disposable analogs.

How to choose the right filter for the pool

When buying, be sure to consider the following points: where is the pool (outdoors or indoors), what is the volume of the tank, how often the pool is using, what should be the speed of the passage of water. To determine the required filter power, multiply the pool volume by a factor of 2.5 and divide the sum by 10.