Maintaining the cleanliness of the pool water is crucial to everyone’s health and safety. A pool filter is one of the pool cleaners used to help keep the swimming pool water clean from unwanted debris. There are three main types of pool filters – the sand filter, cartridge filter and the DE filter.

The sand filter is the most common pool filter. Water is cleaned by entering through the filter. Then upon passing through a diffuser, the contaminants and dirt are trapped between the grains of the sand. An assembly hereby collects the clean water and returns it to the pool. Once the sand filter is clogged, it is cleaned through backwashing. A sand filter can remove debris in the 20-100 micron range which is adequate for most pools.

The cartridge filter is the least expensive of all the pool filters. Water is cleaned by passing through a filter material that traps all the unwanted dirt and debris. Cartridge filters can remove particles in the 25 – 100 micron range thereby has the same filtering capacity as the sand filter. Cartridge filters do not need a backwash valve and requires the lowest maintenance.
The DE or diatomaceous earth filter is the most efficient of all the pool filters. Water is cleaned by passing through a grid. The DE, which is fossilized exoskeleton of diatoms, in the grid serves as the filter material to capture all the debris. DE filters can effectively remove particles in the 3-5 micron range. DE filters requires the highest maintenance.