FILTERS AND PUMPS OF SWIMMING POOL: Important tools for Pool Maintenance

Swimming pools can provide countless hours of fun and excitement for people of all ages. However, in order to ensure that you and your family get the very most out of your backyard pool, it's vital to keep the water clean. By properly maintaining your swimming pool water, you will be providing a sanitary, contaminant-free environment where your swimmers can have fun and relax without concerns about dirty water or contracting infections. While there are many different chemicals and supplies that can be used for pool maintenance, swimming pool filters and pumps are two of the most essential pieces of equipment for any pool, whether it's an above ground swimming pool or an in-ground swimming pool.

Pool pumps are so essential for pool maintenance because they are responsible for circulating the pool's water. This allows for better distribution of chemicals throughout the pool and also keeps the water moving through the filtration system so it can be cleansed. Pool pumps are electrically powered devices that can often be controlled by a timer. While some pool owners keep their pump running continuously during the swimming season, others will only keep theirs running for somewhere between six and twelve hours per day. Pool pumps for above ground and in-ground swimming pools are widely available wherever pool equipment is sold, and it's easy to find high-quality units made by highly respected manufacturers such as Hayward and Pentair.

Pool filters are also vital components of pool maintenance and work together with pool pumps to form the filtration system. While the pump is responsible for moving the water into the filter and then circulating the clean water back into the pool, the filter is responsible for removing dirt, algae and contaminants from the water. In order to do this, pool filters contain one of three types of porous materials which trap the unwanted particles while allowing the water itself to pass through and return to the swimming pool. These three types of porous materials are sand, cartridges and diatomaceous earth.

Sand filters have been in use for a long time and are commonly used for backyard swimming pools. These pool filters consist of a series of chambers, each of which contains a bed of sand. When the pump forces the pool water through these chambers, dirt and other particles of debris collect in the sand barrier and are prevented from moving on with the water. As a result, only clean water passes out of the filter and is returned to the pool. Since the debris particles and impurities build up in the sand, sand filters have to be backwashed once in a while in order to get rid of the water waste and keep the filter operating efficiently.

While sand pool filters are able to catch particles as small as twenty to forty microns, cartridge filters are able to trap particles as small as ten to fifteen microns. Cartridge filters are also easier to maintain as they have a larger surface area and tend to become clogged less often. In addition, these filters exert less back pressure on pool pumps and provide greater flow and turnover due to the fact that they run at a lower pressure than sand filters. Cartridge filters can be cleaned simply by spraying the cartridges with a hose, and this only needs to be done once or twice every swimming season.

Although cartridge filters provide better filtration than sand filters, diatomaceous earth (DE) pool filters provide the best swimming pool filtration currently available. Diatomaceous earth is a porous particulate made up of the fossilized exoskeletons of diatoms, a common type of phytoplankton. This powder has microscopic openings which are large enough to allow water to pass through but which are not large enough for most particles of debris and contaminants to pass through. In fact, diatomaceous earth will trap debris and bacteria as small as two to five microns. As with sand filters, DE filters need to be backwashed every so often in order to drain the clogged diatomaceous earth. Then the filter will need to be recharged with fresh DE powder.

While DE pool filters provide the highest level of water filtration available for backyard swimming pools, all three types of filters will help to keep your water sparkling clean. Swimming pool filters and pumps of a variety of types and brands are readily available from in-store and online retailers of pool supplies and equipment. Whether you have an above ground pool or an in-ground pool, swimming pool filters and pumps are absolutely essential equipment for pool maintenance and will allow you to provide your swimmers with crystal-clear, healthy swimming water that they will be able to enjoy all season long.