How a Pool Service Company Can Care for Your Filter

The filter is the component owners are most likely to believe they are already looking after, because backwashing feels like cleaning. It is not. Backwashing reverses flow to flush loose debris out of the system. It does nothing about what has bonded to the media, and nothing at all about media that has failed.

What a real D.E. or cartridge service involves

The filter is opened and every grid or cartridge comes out. Each one is hosed off individually, which is the only way to reach the pleats and the fabric faces where the fine material sits. Grids and cartridges are inspected as they come out, and anything torn, collapsed or worn through is replaced. What that costs varies with the size of the filter.

The O-rings get lubricated before reassembly. This is a small step that owners skip and that determines whether the housing seals properly. A filter that weeps at the seam loses pressure and makes a mess of the pad. The unit then goes back together and takes fresh D.E. as needed.

Why sand filters are a different job

Sand filters work because the grains are sharp and irregular, which is what traps particles. Over years of use those grains round off. Once that has happened the bed starts channeling, meaning water finds routes straight through the sand without being filtered, and no amount of backwashing corrects it.

The repair is media replacement. The old sand is removed from the tank, the laterals at the bottom are replaced, new sand or alternative media goes in, and the O-rings are renewed where necessary. The laterals matter here: they are the parts that let water out while holding the sand back, and if one has cracked you will see sand in the pool.

How to tell your filter needs attention

• The pool never quite clears despite correct chemistry
• Pressure climbs quickly again after every backwash
• You are seeing D.E. or sand returning into the pool
• The filter housing weeps at the seam
• Backwash intervals have got shorter over the season

The first of those is the one most often misread. An owner sees water that will not clear, assumes a chemistry problem, and adds more chemicals to a pool whose filter has been passing the dirt straight back for a month. Chemistry cannot fix a mechanical fault.

Where this fits in a service plan

Backwashing of D.E. and sand filters happens on every weekly visit as part of the standard scope. The full teardown is a separate, periodic job, and how often it is needed depends on the filter, the pool and the season. If Reed's is already on your pool weekly, we will tell you when it is due rather than waiting for you to notice the water.