The Different Types of Pool Filters and How to Clean Them

Is there anything better than jumping into your swimming pool on a hot day? It’s a fun (and effective!) form of exercise and it can even help reduce anxiety.

But, all that fun can be ruined if your pool isn’t clean. In order to keep your pool in the best shape, you’ll need your pool filter to work properly.

And, in order for your filter to keep your pool clean, you’ll need to make sure your filter stays clean too.

Let’s take a closer look at the different types of pool filters and how to clean them so your pool is always ready for you to enjoy.

Different Types of Pool Filters

There are three main types of pool filters available:

• Sand filter
• Cartridge filter
• Diatomaceous (DE) filter

We’ll go into more detail about each one – and how to clean them – below.

Sand Filter

As their name suggests, a sand filter contains sand particles that trap debris and prevent it from entering your pool. Water can easily flow through the sand, but everything else, like leaves and dirt, gets trapped by the sand.

You’ll know it’s time to clean your sand filter by checking its pressure gauge. You’ll want to check it initially, and then clean it once the pressure rises 8-10 psi.

To clean it, you’ll perform a backwash, turning off the pump, attaching its backwash hose, and turning the pump’s valve setting to “backwash.” Then, turn on the pump and let it run, watching as the water flows through it.

It’ll start out clear, but you’ll notice it start to get darker as the debris washes out. Once it begins to run clear again, you can turn off the pump and change the valve setting to “rinse,” allowing it to run again for about a minute.

Finally, you can reset the pump to its normal setting and you’re all done.

Cartridge Filter

Another popular option, cartridge filters work by pushing the water through a polyester cloth material, which traps dirt and debris while allowing water to pass through it.

Similar to the sand filter, you’ll know it’s time to clean your cartridge filter by checking the pressure gauge and seeing that’s it’s risen 8-10 psi.

You don’t have to backwash a cartridge filter. Instead, you just need to turn off the filter, remove the cartridge, and spray it down with a hose to clean it. If your filter is very dirty, you might consider also spraying it with a filter cleaning solution.

When you’re done, just put the cartridge back in the filter and turn it back on.

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) Filter

DE filters are similar to sand filters, in that the water passes through a mesh filter coated with diatomaceous earth powder, which traps any debris.

Again, you’ll know it’s time to clean your DE filter once you see the pressure gauge rises by 8-10 psi above normal. DE filters also require backwashing to be cleaned.

Simply turn off the filter and switch the valve to the “backwash” position. Once the water flows through as clear, you can replace the valve back to its normal position.

Then, you’ll need to remove the DE filter and rinse it off with a hose to remove the DE powder. Once you’ve done that, you can put the filter back in and refill the pump with new DE powder and turn the pump back on.