How Often Should You Replace Your Swimming Pool Filter?
How clean do you think your pool is? As international data shows, it can probably be full of faeces. You read it right. Another study conducted recently shows that about 58% of samples of pool filters contain bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, something that often remains present in pools! The suggestion that the results of studies show is simple – you have to change the filters of pools at regular intervals and take every step to keep them clean. But how often do you need to change filters?
Some signs that say Your Filter requires an immediate Change
There are times when your swimming pool water filter system needs a change, even before it gets really dirty. Otherwise, they can become a sure threat to the other components of your pool.
- High PSI content: The pool can put pressure on the water while moving through the system of filteration to eventually get back into the pool. If the filteration system makes a crack in any part of the filter, such as the pipe, then it can be due to high PSI.
- Frayed pieces of clothes: Any frayed materials allow debris into the pump of the pool. It would either break your pump or at least recycle those dirt particles into the pool once again. So if your filter appears to be furry, bumpy, or somewhat uneven, you should know that it needs a change now.
- Crushed cores of cartridges: Just like a frayed filter, a crushed filter needs immediate change.
- Failure of end cap: The chemicals used in pool treatment can result in brittle plastics. Caps with cracking ends make the filters crumble or at least lose their positioning. This can lead to the coming of debris through pumps. Moreover, it can have some negative effects on the water pressure of the filter.
How Often Should You Replace?
Apart from the “must replace” indications that you have just read about, it is important to ensure that you change them regularly. Different types of filters, however, need different changing times. For example:
- DE Filters: Optimally, you need to change them twice a year, as well as backwash them every month. Also, while the backwashing is on, look at the cartridge to see if there is any flattened structure or whether it is frayed or torn.
- Cartridge filters: You need to soak and rinse them gently every 3-5 weeks. As a rule of thumb, you can replace the filter after every 2000 hours of active use unless it is not frayed, cracked or torn. However, depending on the pool’s size and frequency of use, you can replace it every three years, as well.
- Sand filters: You can backwash them every month. This would prevent the filters from getting choked by the oil and dead skin cells that it receives from the swimmers. Also, check that the tanks have sufficient sand. By doing so, you would not need to change your fingers for many years.
Professional companies like Atlantis Pools can help you with diverse solutions, ranging from cleansing and installing Pipeless filters for swimming pools or any fix-up job.