Wideman Pools

2567 Hwy 67

Festus, MO  63028

www.widemanpools.com

636-931-7665

When should the Cartridge be Cleaned?

Not too long ago, cartridge filter assemblies were relatively small and needed to be cleaned more frequently. Then in the early 2000s, engineers at the major manufacturers caught on to the idea that a larger filter would mean more filter area, which would mean they wouldn't have to be cleaned as often. This has helped.

Although larger filters reduce frequency of cleaning, the job still must be done and determining when is the first step: keeping a log of filter pressure differential measurements can make this easy and efficient — once you get in the habit. It is best to clean the filter each time you vacuum.

How to Clean the Cartridge

Cleaning a cartridge is a matter of rinsing dirt from a somewhat difficult surface. The deep pleats of a cartridge, while increasing the filter surface area dramatically, are inherently hard to access. You have to get in there and get after it.

Plenty of service techs use a simple pistol grip sprayer on a garden hose — any device that can be turned on and off without going back to the spigot, will save water, which is important in drought-stricken areas. But if you are looking to save time use one of the products on the market specifically designed to force water down into the pleats and make this routine job go faster.

Put the cartridge down on the ground, kneel down on a pad, get the cartridge cleaning tool and start at the top of the cartridge. Hold the cartridge at a 45-degree angle, get down to the band, take out the cartridge cleaning tool and rotate the cartridge and go back in. All the dirt comes out the bottom — you go from a gray filter cartridge to off-white in just a few minutes. It's just plain faster than the garden nozzle, and it saves time.  

 Saving Water

It's not exactly a tip, but any discussion of this topic has to include the fact that the water savings in cleaning cartridge filters is one of their major selling points in areas where water shortages are an issue. Cleaning a cartridge doesn't require the hundreds of gallons of wastewater needed to backwash a sand filter. Depending on the situation, a sand filter may run through 200 to 500 gallons of water in a single backwash cleaning. A cartridge might need five or 10. Saving water is increasingly important.

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