Sand filters could be among the most primitive forms of filtering water. Sand has the ability to remove the impurities from the water. It is more of a natural method. Sand filter is a method used for pool maintenance. The goal of pool maintenance is to remove all the waste substances from the water and leave behind a clear pool of water.
Sand filters constitute large tanks. These tanks could be made of fiber glass, concrete or even metal. Inside the tank there is a chunky bed of sand. This sand is of a special grade. If you are inquisitive to know how this mechanism works, here is the process.
When a pool has dirty water in it, this dirty water flows into the pipe which leads the dirty water to the water distribution head. This water distribution head is placed inside the tank. The tank has sand of different textures. When the water falls into the tank, the gravity pulls the water down. The sand grabs in all the debris, dirt and impurities. The water is being treated by removing the debris in it and it is let out to the pool by the outlet pipe. In case you want it chlorinated, it could be sent to the unit where chlorine is added to the water making it viable for usage.
Over a period of time you would find that the dirt accumulation in the sand increases and the water is not getting filtered. This raises the need to change the sand in the tank. To ease this process, here are a few steps that you could follow:
• The first procedure is to remove the old sand and replace it by the new one. For this you have to open up the filtration unit. This might be a bit complicated. You have to deal with a lot of pipes, the quality of sand, the right texture and other major stuff. It would be quite difficult for you to get it done by yourself. If you have a plumber, he could do it for you. Or in case you do not know any such person, then call in for professionals.
• The next step is to dig out the sand. You cannot do this by a shovel since all the parts around the filter are pretty fragile. You could probably use a plastic cup which would certainly not do much damage.
• Once you remove all the sand, you have to clean the tank and examine all the plumbing connections in detail.
• Once all the laterals are examined and the tank is thoroughly cleaned, you can replace the sand. Once you fill in the sand, fill half the tank with water. This will help set the sand perfectly leaving no gaps in between.
• Once all this is done you need to run the water in back wash mode so that it flushes out all the dust from the sand and allow the sand to fully settle down the bottom of the tank.
Sand filters are available almost everywhere. The installation of these filters is easy and cheap. You need to just concentrate on the plumbing work because a little amount of error there may cause a huge damage. If you are going green then this option may be an ideal one for you.