HUNTER ABOVEGROUND SWIMMING POOLS

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Sand Filters

Sand filters use specially graded sand as the filter media. The water enters the filters Multi Port Valve and then travels down through the bed of sand and the dirt is trapped between the course grains of sand. The clear water is removed from the bottom of the tank through the laterals and is returned to the valve and back to the pool.

Filter Sand: When standard sand is used in the tank it can filter out debris down to about 15 microns in size, which is very small considering that humans can't see 100 microns by eye.

Filter Media: A new filter media is now available that will filter down to 3 microns and remove ammonia from the water as well (Ammonia is what algae feeds on). This filter media goes by the names of, "Zelbrite". It is generally twice the price of regular filter sand, and requires some maintenance once a year to remove the build up of Ammonia's in the sand.

The main advantage of the sand filter is its ease of maintenance. To clean the filter takes only a few minutes and there is no mess. Usually you will get up to ten (10) years expected life from this media.

The main disadvantage of a sand filter is that it is the least efficient, but then that is why they are larger in size. Depending on how dirty and the size of the filter, backwashing could use over 500 litres of water. This may not be practical for people with a limited supply of water such as those on tank supply. This process also wastes treated water which means the pool may have to be topped up and rebalanced after backwashing.

Back-washing losses:-

Sand filters on average use the most water for back-washing. Larger filters, on the same volume of contaminated water, require less backwashing. But larger filters require larger pumps (flow rates) to cause agitation of the sand bed, for efficient backwashing. It is imperative, for water conservation, that the filter size is matched to the most efficient flow rate for that sized filter. Do not select a pump on horse power alone.

Download spec sheet for the Pantera Series II Sand Filter