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Although
the circulation and filtration systems are not
aesthetically appealing elements of a pool,
they are however essential elements for making
sure that your pool stays both clean and safe. It
doesn’t make sense to spend thousands of
dollars on your pool design then scrimp on the
circulation and filtration system.
Circulation
and filtration systems work by drawing in pool
water through the skimmer and main drain.
The water then passes through the pump
and filter before it is returned to the pool
through the returns or inlets.
The size of circulation and filtration
systems that is right for your pool should be
large enough to completely circulate all of
your pool water within 6 - 8 hours.
There
are three different types of swimming pool
filters:
- Sand
- Cartridge
- Diatomaceous
Earth Filters also called DE filters
 Sand
Filters—Use sand as the filtering medium.
These filters are round and hold several
hundred pounds of pool-grade sand.
How these filters function is that water
flows into the top of the filter housing, then
filters through the sand filter medium, where
any dirt is removed from the water. When compared to the other two types of filters, sand filters
remove the least amount of dirt from the water,
only approximately 20 to 25 microns.
However, sand filters are efficient
enough to maintain the cleanliness of any pool
clean.
Sand
filters should be cleaned as often as once a
week during the swimming season. This means backwashing clean water through the filter.
However, this can waste several hundred
gallons of pool water that will have to be
replaced. 
Cartridge
Filters—These filters have been around for
several years and in recently years have been
gaining in popularity.
Cartridge filters consist of a tank,
which holds three or four cylinder shaped
filters. The
cylinder filters are often made of polyester or
similar fabric, which traps, removes, and holds
the dirt and impurities until the filter is
either cleaned or replaced.
Cartridge
filters can remove any dirt particular as small
as 5 to 10 microns in size.
These filters
cost less than diatomaceous earth filters but
are more expensive than sand filters.
Because the maintenance is easier,
cartridge filters have become more popular than
the less expensive sand filters.
Some of the filters only require that
they are rinsed off with the garden hose,
whereas other filters must be replaced
regularly during the swimming season to keep
them working properly.
Diatomaceous
Earth Filters, or DE Filters—These filters
can remove dirt and impurities from your pool
water as small as 3 to 5 microns.
The inside housing of the DE filter
resembles that of a cartridge filter housing.
However, the filtering medium is
diatomaceous earth instead of polyester fabric.
Diatomaceous earth is made from billions
of fossilized plankton skeletons, and is what
actually traps and removes the dirt and
impurities from the water.
DE
Filters often cost more than any other type of
filter, however, they are known for keeping
your pool water cleaner.
The only drawback is the required
maintenance.
Unlike cartage filter systems, DE
filters require backwashing to clean the
filter.
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