Tulsa Pools : Water Without Chemicals
Cody A.: Hello divers and welcome to the Dive Time Show. I am your host, Cody Albright, and here with me, as always, is my beautiful, lovely, extravagant, amazing wife and co-host.
Rachel A.: Wow. Thank you.
Cody A.: Rachel.
Rachel A.: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Hello.
Cody A.: Yeah. Together we are the owners of Sierra Pools and Spas of Tulsa and you can find us online at sierrapoolsandspas.com or you can give us a call at 9188848427. Again that’s sierrapoolsandspas.com or you can give us a phone call at 9188848427, or you can find us on Facebook and give us a like there and we’d appreciate that. Today, we’ll be talking about some Tulsa pools, but more specifically we’ll be talking about filters for your Tulsa pools.
Rachel A.: Yes.
Cody A.: So, Rachel let’s go ahead and dive in.
Rachel A.: Yes. Filters are a very important part of your pool’s system.
Cody A.: Yeah.
Rachel A.: The pool’s filter is actually located downstream of the pump and basically it’s job is to remove dirt from the pool water.
Cody A.: Okay, cool.
Rachel A.: So, the cleaning process starts at the strainer basket that is attached to the pump. This is really only going to catch large debris, such as leaves or branches. For the stuff that makes the water cloudy, much of which you can’t even see, you’ll need a pool filter, but it’s important to remember the pool filter’s only half of the cleaning system. So, filters don’t remove the bacteria from the water, just the dirt. So, to remove the bacteria, you need to sanitize the water, which is using chlorine or some other chemical. Today, we’re just going to be talking about filters. So, there are three different types of filters and each one is different and work differently. So, we’re going to jump into those Tulsa Pools.
The three different types are cartridge filters, diatomaceous earth, or DE, filters, and sand filters. And each one, like I said, is different. According to a pool and spa new survey, nearly 39% of respondents nationwide prefer cartridge filters. While DE filters are favored by about 33% and sand filters round out the remainder with nearly 29% of the vote. All do a good job of removing impurities, but each one functions differently. The first one we’re going to look at is a cartridge filter. Now, price wise the cartridge filters are going to be your mid range price filters and they’re gaining popularity in many parts of the country, but cartridge filters are tatted as water savers in the drought prone southwest. Saltwater pools offer the benefits of softer water without chemicals that conventional pools require and because cartridge filters aren’t back washed, they help maintain the salt balance. So, if you have a saltwater pool, which are becoming really popular, almost all new pools are salt water pools, cartridge filters are definitely the way to go.
So, a cartridge filter consists of a tank that house three or four cylindrical filtering elements. The filters are actually made of polyester or some other material that provides a super fine filtering surface. The fabric catches and holds the impurities until you clean or replace the filter. So, these filters do have to be replaced. And they can filter out anything down to about five to ten microns in size. So, just to give you a reference of what that is. A grain of table salt is about 90 microns. So, anything below about 35 microns is invisible to the naked eye. So, this is again, it’s filtering anything about five to ten microns in size. So, very, very, very, very small dirt particles.
Cody A.: You need another very in there.
Rachel A.: Hmm?
Cody A.: Another very. Very, very, very, very small.
Rachel A.: Oh, yeah. It’s important to remember that with any filter, a small amount of dirt actually helps the filtering process. So, in other words, a filter becomes mores efficient the longer it operates. However, there is a point at which the filter will be holding too much dirt and will have to be replaced. But in most areas, cartridge filters are less expensive than DE filters, but they cost more than sand filters, but they’re popular because of the minimal maintenance involved. Some people find it sufficient just to hose off the cartridges a few times during the swimming season to keep them working properly. Others soak the filters in detergent or you can replace them. In any case, maintenance takes only a few minutes to keep the filtration system in top shape. Most portable spas, if you’re interested in a portable spa, if you wanted to know this, contain cartridge filters because they’re very easy to maintain. So, those are cartridge filters in a nut shell.
The next filter type that we’ll talk about are diatomaceous earth filters or DE filters. These are the most expensive filters Tulsa Pools. They can filter out dirt as small as three to five microns. So, very, very, very, very, very, very, very small particles of dirt.
Cody A.: More verys than cartridge.
Rachel A.: Yes. Of the three filter options, 45% of those surveyed in the northeast chose DE as their preferred medium and this is probably because the northeast has a very short pool season. It only lasts about 120 days, so they just want to get the most efficient filter for the least amount of time. So, DE’s are really great options for those people in the northeast. If you open the tank of a DE filter, it’ll look somewhat similar to a cartridge filter, but the grids are packed with diatomaceous earth. Tulsa Pools So, diatomaceous earth is a powder made up of billions of fossilized plankton skeletons Tulsa Pools.
Cody A.: Amazing.
Rachel A.: Just really interesting. Yeah. It’s this powder that actually catches and holds the dirt. Now, DE filters are usually the most expensive type and they get the water cleaner than other filters, but the necessary maintenance can be a drawback for some homeowners. Most manufacturers of DE filters call for back washing to clean the filter. So, in back washing the system reverses the flow of water. The clean water cleanses the filter. The dirty water is then drained from the system. But you’ll find many pool service technicians who say that back washing alone usually isn’t sufficient for DE filters. To really clean a DE filter, you have to remove the grids and clean off the spent DE. So, the spent diatomaceous earth, and then this presents the problem of what to do with the diatomaceous earth because many towns don’t allow you to simply dump it down the sewer. Some places classify it as hazardous waste. So, you actually have to figure out how to get rid of that and requires some special handling. So, that’s the down side of a DE filter. It is doable, but it just takes a little more work.
The last type of filter that is available is a sand filter and these are the least expensive and they use sand as a filtering medium as the name implies. Sand filters are ingrained in the Midwest because fresh water sources are plentiful. Nearly half the respondents selected sand as their top choice. These filters, they aren’t the most efficient in terms of water conservation, but they are effective making waste a non issue in market strong water from the Great Lakes. Sand filters look like large balls and they can hold 100’s of pounds of pool grade sand. So, basically the water flows into the top of the water housing and makes its way down to the sand bed where the sharp edges of the sand catch the dirt. On a micron to micron comparison to the cartridge and the DE filter, sand filters only filter particles as small as about 20-25 microns. So, definitely not as small, not as efficient as the cartridge or the DE filter, but again for time, Tulsa Pools the dirt left behind in the sand contributes to the filtering process and sand filters certainly are efficient enough to keep just about any pool clean.
To keep a sand filter working, you must clean it as often as once a week during swimming season. So, it’s a bit more maintenance and you have to back wash it. So, back washing where the flow of clean water is reversed back into the filter. The problem with this is that the back washed water is simply wasted. So, it is a big waste of water if you’re concerned about that. A typical back washing session can waste a few hundred gallons of water. So, that’s quite a bit of water. And that water must be replaced in the pool. So, that might be something to think about in your cost. It might cost you a little more in the long run on your water bill. Sand filters might not be a good idea in areas that are often under water restrictions. So, if you’re under a drought or something like that, you probably don’t want to be using a sand filter.
Cody A.: I don’t think we have that problem here.
Rachel A.: No, I don’t think we do too much.
And one last important thing that you have to do with filters that we will do for you, is you have to size it, just like you’d size a pump, and it’s kind of the same type of math. You have to take the gallons of the pool and divide it by the hours of the turnover time that you want the water circulated through the filter. Then, you divide that by a per hour basis and you’ll find out the flow rate and again, we’ll do all that for you. So, just to kind of give you pool filters at a glance. Just to kind of recap. DE filters are the most expensive, they provide the most filtration at start up, but they have to be back washed once a week, and they have to be disassembled and cleaned at least two times a year. It’s a messy process, and their might be restrictions in your area on disposing of DE earth. Cartridge filters are mid range price. They’re good for installing a large filter area in a tight spot. Cartridges require cleaning about three times per year, and they should be replaced about every five years. Sand filters, they are the least expensive and they’re a great choice for a home owner who plans on maintaining his or her own pool. Filters require back washing about once a week, but multi port valves can make this easy and it only takes about five minutes.
So, that is everything you need to know about a filter for your Tulsa pools.
Cody A.: Well, that’s quite interesting Rachel. Thanks for all that knowledge we gained today.
Rachel A.: You’re welcome.
Cody A.: So, yeah. Those are some things to think about. What filter kind of best fits you and your living area? So, all right. It’s about all the time we have for the day. I’m your host, Cody.
Rachel A.: And I’m Rachel.
Cody A.: And we’ll see you next time. Bye Tulsa Pools.