From what I've seen and read in the past, when you change the sand in the filter, that's pretty much it.

 

I've now heard from 1 place is that when you change the sand, you should use sand filter cleaner, which seems wasteful because the cleaner is mostly a degreaser which takes body oils and suntan lotion away from the sand. The sand is new, after the change. I'm wondering if someone is just trying to make additional profit by using the cleaner.

 

What do our online experts think?

Cleaner is not needed. Just a good backwash. 

5 hours ago, Bagwain said:

Cleaner is not needed. Just a good backwash. 

Thank you, that is my understanding and is consistent with what I've read and seen on the Internet.

I tried doing the sand replacement and found it difficult.  Probably easy for a young gymnastics type.  I ended up calling a pool company and having it done by them.

 

Be careful of the pipes on the bottom!

 

Good luck young man! 

Just now, MrJ2U said:

I tried doing the sand replacement and found it difficult.  Probably easy for a young gymnastics type.  I ended up calling a pool company and having it done by them.

 

Be careful of the pipes on the bottom!

 

Good luck young man! 

Actually, I had the sand in my pool filter replaced with Ecoclear about 6 months ago and I used a pool company to do it. 

 

In this particular case, my wife hired a pool company to change the sand in a house she rents out, but the tenant insisted that pool cleaner needs to be used, based on what he read.

2 hours ago, FarangRimPing said:

Actually, I had the sand in my pool filter replaced with Ecoclear about 6 months ago and I used a pool company to do it. 

 

In this particular case, my wife hired a pool company to change the sand in a house she rents out, but the tenant insisted that pool cleaner needs to be used, based on what he read.

You don't need pool cleaner.

 

But it won't hurt either. 

 

Just tell him you used pool cleaner then don't.

 

Of course make sure you use proper pool sand or glass.

 

Good luck. 

Attached brochure on Eco Clear correct stuff. Not recycled bottle glass which doesn't work and can actually cause problems. 

Eco Clear wetinfo.pdf

Could someone tell me what signs to look for to tell if the sand needs changing?

If it is normal not silicate sand and it's over 2 yrs old it needs changing.

Silicate sand 5 yrs.

Water will go milky very quickly after rain.

Water looks dull & sometimes broken down sand will empty through the inlets to the pool. 

My cheap sand filter (from GH) was filled some 10 years ago by a washed river sand as obtained by villagers as they provide for water filtering of general use in villages. The sand in the river is few millions years old without any changing. 

And the water is scarcely treated with a handful of copper sulphate and by chlorine even more scarcely. Of course, a backwashing of the old sand is regularly made  after each floor vacuuming.    

Just took few pictures, trying in vain to see any milky or dull water, unfortunately, I do not possess a microscope. 

 

 

19 hours ago, Saanim said:

My cheap sand filter (from GH) was filled some 10 years ago by a washed river sand as obtained by villagers as they provide for water filtering of general use in villages. The sand in the river is few millions years old without any changing. 

And the water is scarcely treated with a handful of copper sulphate and by chlorine even more scarcely. Of course, a backwashing of the old sand is regularly made  after each floor vacuuming.    

Just took few pictures, trying in vain to see any milky or dull water, unfortunately, I do not possess a microscope. 

 

 

River sand is from broken down rocks and is constantly breaking down in nature. To say otherwise is pure ignorance!

Sand media in filters breaks down whether you believe it or not. The time it takes comes down to the type of sand and the amount of backwashing being done.