Your Arizona swimming pool service professional will certainly let you know how often the sand in your swimming pool filter needs to be changed but here is a bit of a heads up on how often it should be undertaken. Your swimming pool service professional in Laveen, Arizona know that some filters can go more than 15 years without having the sand changed – they are not as efficient as they should be but they still work. We certainly don’t recommend going that long, though.
Sand in your pool filter is .45 to .55 mm in diameter and when it’s new is very rough and the roughness is what helps filter the dirt particles out of the water. Over time the sand gets worn down, loses its roughness and the efficiency of your filter is diminished.
If your sand’s efficiency is diminished, the swimming pool service contractors at Express Pool Care might need to use more sanitizer to keep the water clean and this can increase your costs. Additionally, after five years it’s likely that the sand has worn down enough that dirt can become lodged so deeply that even backwashing won’t address it.
Here are the steps your Arizona swimming pool service professional will take when it comes to changing the sand in your filter and replacing it with new sand:
- The filters will need to be opened so the sand can be removed. The type of pool filter you have will determine the steps your service tech will need to take to remove the sand.
- Once the filter has been removed he or she will dig out the sand and will probably use a plastic cup – never a shovel or a sharp instrument.
- After the sand has been removed he will clean and examine all the internal working parts thoroughly.
- If there is dirt build up your pool tech will soak the parts in a mixture of water and muriatic acid to get rid of the build up.
- The filter will be cleaned and rinsed and then ready for installation.
- Water will be added until the tank is half full before new sand will be added.
- Every time a bag of sand has been added, it will be leveled by hand.
- Once the correct amount of sand has been added, the filter will be reassembled and put back into your pool.
While changing the sand in your filter is not something that is done with any regularity, it is something that needs to be checked on a regular basis and your pool contractor will do that during service visits.