Paper pool filter??

[Chris142]

We put up a very small above ground pool. I put an Intek (spelling?) Pump and sand filter on it.

The sand filter is ok for larger things but doesn't stop the dust. The dust ends up back in the pool.

I want to retain the sand filter and add a paper filter after it but I can't find anything.

Was thinking of a hydraulic filter as some of those mounts use hoses as big as my hoses on my pool pump but am concerned about the metal filter rusting and putting rust back into the pool.

Any ideas?

 

[ctechbob]

I always added a small amount of diatomaceous earth to my sand filters. Doesn't take much, but it will filter much finer. Takes a few cycles though to filter enough that it doesn't load up the filter quickly. I'm talking something like 1/2 cup at most. Run it over night and you'll see the pressure shoot up as it loads up with fine particles.

Simply add it into the suction line and off it goes.

 

[Kira]

As with a fish tank, there are paper filters you get wet then , via a bucket, let the filter suck up a measured dose of diatomaceous earth.
The DE covers the filter and it then filters extremely well. However, this extreme filtration clogs up quickly and has to be removed. Whatever the standard filter design is, is put into service until next time.

 

[Chris142]

I came up with this as a test to see how or if it will work for now. Its a filter from our old pool I shoved on a pipe and stuck on the intake. Having it on the return would just blow it up or off the pipe.

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

Sand filters typically cannot remove remove particles smaller than 20-40 microns which can leave the pool water cloudy even after running the filter for days. Adding Diatomaceous Earth to a sand filter will improve its filtering efficiency down to around 5 microns and get the water substantially clearer. Adding a polymer coagulant like Aquamate Super Clarifier to the pool water will speed things along by getting the fine particles to clump together and be easier to filter. Use those two chemistry cheats together you can get crystal clear water with no other equipment needed.

I add about a cup of DE to my 24 inch filter. The rule of thumb is to only add enough DE to raise the pressure 1 psi above a freshly backwashed filter. More is not better. As ctechbob noted the filter will initially plug quickly (mine is a matter of hours) on the first round, then overnight on the second round, then after a few days for the third round. Once the water is clear it will run until the dirt input into the pool plugs it up.

Note that swimming pool grade DE has been specially processed and is not interchangeable with the food grade DE you buy at the farm store.

 

[97prizm]

We put up a very small above ground pool. I put an Intek (spelling?) Pump and sand filter on it.

The sand filter is ok for larger things but doesn't stop the dust. The dust ends up back in the pool.

I want to retain the sand filter and add a paper filter after it but I can't find anything.

Was thinking of a hydraulic filter as some of those mounts use hoses as big as my hoses on my pool pump but am concerned about the metal filter rusting and putting rust back into the pool.

Any ideas?

There are three types of pool filters sand, which need to be back flushed periodically, cartridge which can be reused and have various filtering abilities and D.E. which have the finest filtration but are more expensive and requires adding DE powder at every backwash from my understanding.

 

[Chris142]

My paper or whatever its made of filter has caught a lot of stuff in the hour or so its been on the pipe. Looks like its getting sucked into the inner cage.

Its definitely restricting flow now as the amount of water pumping is very little compared to no filter.

 

[Kira]

From fish tanks or swimming pools (can't recall which) I recall someone having an external, D.E. filter.
They'd break it out, set it up, plop the suction and return lines in the pool / tank and run it until loaded.
Put away until next time.

 

[SC Maintenance]

My paper or whatever its made of filter has caught a lot of stuff in the hour or so its been on the pipe. Looks like its getting sucked into the inner cage.

Its definitely restricting flow now as the amount of water pumping is very little compared to no filter.

View attachment 351911

Not designed for water. The cellulose is disintegrating.

You need something like a fine wire mesh.

 

[RhondaHonda]

You could get a robot pool cleaner but it’ll probably cost as much as the pool.

Is the dust just what blows in from the environment?

 

[PMT133]

A decent ripened sand filter should have a pool looking pretty clear.

As was said, a polymer or DE would work well as a filter aid. I've used a product called super blue which is essentially a polymer you add to the water which helps coagulation of those small particles, most clarifiers work in the same manner. If you want to get really technical... depending on the surface charge and type of particle you are dealing with, it still may break apart when filtering and be left in suspension.

For anyone wondering, I have a DE on my pool and was installed when we/I built it. Only time I can see a difference between sand and DE is when the light is on and I'm standing on a diving board at night. The sand looks like it has has small dissolved oxygen particles in it but is still very clear... the DE, if the surface is undisturbed, looks like there is no water under you. During the day in a chemically balanced pool they look the same. At 8 feet.

 

[Chris142]

Not designed for water. The cellulose is disintegrating.

You need something like a fine wire mesh.

Thats an actual element from my last pool pump and filter

 

[Chris142]

Is the dust just what blows in from the environment?

Ya and probably dirt and rust pumped up from my well