Sand for pool filter?

[kathyg]

Hi,

We've been quoted £250 incl delivery for 300kg of sand for a swimming pool filter. We're in the position to get free sand if only we can find out the specification of this particular type of sand. Does anyone know?

Kathy

[JJ]

Kathy,

Speak with Poolguy on this forum, he supplies a very good sand for filters that is far superior to the stuff youn get at the poolshops.

It is not cheap but works really well.

 

 

 

[Mikey]

I recently got a new filtration system from poolguy using Zelbrite instead of sand.   fantastic stuff, pool stays crystal clear.

far better than sand

[kathyg]

Thanks JJ and Mikey,

Our house is in Brittany so a little inconvenient to cart sand  all the way up the country from Poolguy - down in the South I believe?

Will look at Zelbrite though, but if we can get free sand will probably try that first - Zelbrite's quite pricey isn't it? Just need to find the correct specification for this sand......................[:)]

Kathy

[Baz]

[quote user="kathyg"]

Hi,

We've been quoted £250 incl delivery for 300kg of sand for a swimming pool filter. We're in the position to get free sand if only we can find out the specification of this particular type of sand. Does anyone know?

Kathy

[/quote]

Kathy, what size pool have you got, if you require 300kg then it must be of Olympic size. Sand last for upto 5 years in a filter and for a reasonable size pool you would need only a fraction of 300kg. The sand used is a type specifically for pools and should be obtained from a pool store, do not use normal sand.

Baz

[JJ]

KathyG

Have a word with Poolguy as he covers a lot of France, the stuff is very good.

[Mikey]

I live in Brittany too, and poolguy delivered the stuff himself, had lunch and a  chat then went on his merry way.

[kathyg]

Baz,

The pool unfortunately is not Olympic size, it's only 30' x 15' and we've got a Lacron 36" filter which according to Lacron requires 300kg of sand. I know the filter is much bigger than we need but it was cheap! A bigger filter's got to be better, n'est pas??[:D]

But what's so special about this sand? Is it super-clean or silt-free? We won't be using any old sand, we do want the right stuff, but I just wondered what the difference was..........[8-)]

Maybe we should invite Poolguy for lunch![;-)]

Kathy

[Poolguy]

Hi Kathy

Lunch would be just super... delighted.

Zeolite is an Volcanic Mineral... instead of a granular structure of

Silica sand your were looking for, this product is has a cellular

structure with an literally enourmouse surface area... Vis. one gram of

zeolite has the same surface area of a football field.

So wereas, your filter using silica sand would give you about 40 micron filtration performance.

Zeolite will give you one micron filtration performance.

The difference is that using this mineral you will filter out all hair,

skin cells, waterborne paracites, organic matter, down to one micron

that you  would have let through with sand. Your water appears to

be polished as Mickey said.

It will also scrub Phoshates, nitrates and ammonias from your water by chemical means and last the same time as silica sand.

So 9 meters x 4.5 meters, thats about 65 m3 depending on the depth. I

am guessing that you have the Lacron LSR30 filter which will give you a

22m3 per hour capacity so long as the pump is sized to suit. That would

give you a 3 hour circulation time which is correctly specified. Any

longer time than that is a health risk.

As for the capacity, if your spec lists 300kg then you will need no

more than 60% of the volume for Zeolite (because it is lighter) so that

would be about 180kg and it would take about 2 hours to change.. or you

could do it yourself.

PM me if you want any more detials

Andrew

[Mikey]

also with zeolite  you don't need to backwash as often, say every 2 to 3 weeks.

[kathyg]

Thanks Andrew for your reply. I think my husband would like to run past you the details of our plans, so I'll try and get him to get them into some sort of order first! By the way it's a 36" Lacron filter that we have.

Hopefully will be in touch soon..........

Kathy

[Poolguy]

Kathy

Thanks for the email and the posts. There are a number of curiousities about your questions.The first is where you happend to get your hands on a second hand 30m3 filter. The next is why for example you would use this on a pool with 45m3. It means that if you had a pump to match you would get a water change in 1.5 hours, in some parts of the world that would be called a Sunami.

I notice though that you will use a 1hp pump rated for 17m3 at 0 height. THat means that you will never get this filter up to operating pressure(1.5 bar°), and that even if you get an exemplary filtration medium like Zeolite in ther that you might not achieve the result that you hoped. I recommend that you use a little more of the money you have saved by buying from the US and purchase a 17m3 filter to match the pump so that the system will be balanced and therefore work properly.

You might in the end find a buyer for your bigger filter to someone who has a 90m3 swimming pool and has been thinking of impoving the water quality by first using an appropriately sized filter.

I notice too that you are purchasing a salt chlorinator and you will use a UV Lamp - neither system works properly in my opinion and to puchase the two is curious indeed when systems which do work will cost half the price you are proposing.

You are using a Heat pump and an abri..... definately a comprehenvie solution which will produce a very nice pool in Brittany. If you were any further South I would say either one or the other but Both is an indulgence.

Are you sure about your needs.... do you beleive that your importation is the best plan given the points made by other posters here, all of which bear consideration.

If you are seriouse about getting the most pool for your money I suggest that you consider consulting a Local professional rather than internet buying for the sake of some imagined cost benefit which might never materialise. In my experience the offers available on the net never live up to their promotional claims, and the after sale service naturally does not exist at all. Its a brave move.

Nevertheless, if this is the course you are taking, then we here shall continue to support you and provide what advice we can.

Andrew