Sand Filter Balls | The Future Of Pool Filter Medium

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Is swapping to sand filter balls a good idea, do they work, and what are they anyway? In this pool filter ball review we’re going to find out.

Maybe you’ve just bought a new sand filter. Could be the time has come for the dreaded sand change on on your trusty sand filter. Whatever, it’s a good time to consider some alternatives.

Anyone who has replaced 200 lbs of slimy wet sand filter sand has scratched their head half way through and thought that there must be a better way than this.

Well sand filter balls are definitely a different way of filtering your pool water and we’re going to find out if they’re a better way.

Sand Filter Balls: A New Guy In Town

It does take a leap of imagination when you look a pile of sand filter balls to believe that they’re going to filter your pool water.

Sand has been a brilliant filter medium for years, so how’s this flashy new kid on the block going to do any better?

You know where you are with sand, it’s a comforting reliable kind of thing. A bucket of sand won’t let you down. It’s got weight and substance, as well as a history. It’s an old friend in fact. Why you can even build houses with it.

But this new guy has showed up with the fancy new white, blue and black colors. It makes me nervous, anxious in fact.

These sand filter balls look like they should be on a dessert trolly nowhere near a swimming pool.

What’s going on? The world seems like it’s spinning off it’s axis these days. Crazy things are popping up all over the place. Are these pool filter balls one of them ? Well the short answer is definitely NO.

If you want the long answer keep reading….

Sand Filter Balls: The Long Answer

Do pool filter balls work?

The filter balls polyethylene fibre weave provides an exceptional level of porosity and excellent micro particle filtering. Unlike sand they don’t clump or harden over time. So they give a comfortingly consistent form of filtering.

You can be confident that the whole filtration cubic area is being used to remove particles and debris from your pool water. If you’re running sand you can’t.

They may look good enough to eat but sand filter balls are made from super durable polyethylene. They’re highly resistant to pool chemicals, high temperatures, alkalis, and acids. Virtually indestructible in fact. Do they work ? They work great !

Benefits Of Using Sand Filter Balls

Well there’s plenty of advantages using pool filter balls. The first thing you’ll notice is you can tuck a filter ball box under your arm and walk out of the store with them. ( after you pay of course! )

Contrast that with loading up a trolly with tens or hundreds of pounds in sand sacks and wrestling them into your vehicle.

Of course there’s plenty of other major advantages.

Sand filter balls create much less back pressure than sand to the system so the pump doesn’t have to work so hard. Flow rate to the pool is increased reducing the amount of daily circulating time. That means more efficiency and lower energy bills
End of season maintenance and mothballing easier. Filter can be drained quickly and unlike sand there’s no worries about freezing and damaging the pressure canister.
No clumping or hardening so an even, consistent flow rate is maintained.
Less backwashing required so a saving on water and chemical replacement.
Filters down to 3 – 5 microns.
Simple to remove and machine washable. They can be washed and reused as many times as necessary.
Cheap to buy when compared to quality pool sand.
Long lasting. They have a similar working life as sand.
Pumps tend to run quieter as they have less resistance to overcome in the filter.
Arguably Eco Friendly, many brands are made from recycled material and at the end of their useful life they can be disposed of for recycling too

1,116 Reviews

Rx Clear White Luster Eco-Friendly Filter Balls

A REPLACEMENT FOR SAND - Rx Clear Luster Filter Media is designed to be an alternative to pool filter sand for pool filters. One box of filter media (1.5 lbs) equals 50 lbs of sand. A pea gravel base is recommended with the use of this product. Just layer pea gravel above laterals to cover them. Clarifiers should not be used with this product.
GREAT WATER CLARIFIER - Made from 100% polyethylene these tiny balls will clean your freshwater, filtering down to 3 to 5 microns making for a more enjoyable swim in your pool.

Backwashing The Filter Balls

If you’re used to a sand filter then you’re used to backwashing the sand regularly. The pressure gauge is your guide. Typically filter balls need backwashing 50% less. Some users report not having to backwash the whole summer season. Yikes !

So we definitely suggest you do backwash more frequently than never. The manufacturer of our recommended product suggests not to backwash for 90 days after first installation though.

Just look in the filter view port and you’ll easily see the state of your filter when you’re backwashing . You’ll almost certainly dump much less water per season. Use a little trial and error to find the the best schedule for your installation..

If you expect to see the same pressure increase signals that that sand gives you then you’ll be disappointed. There’s little or very little pressure gauge increase with these magic sand filter balls.

How To Clean Filter Balls

In a washing machine. Just put them in a laundry bag and pop them in. Remember to fully rinse them, make double sure they have no soap residue left on them when they return to the filter.

If there is then it could cause an undesirable bubbling effect in your pool water. A bubble bath is not the look we’re going for.

Top Tip

Add a few filter balls to your skimmer to pre-filter the water before it arrives to your equipment pad.

Some resourceful owners have even safety pinned them to their pool net when they’re skimming leaves or bailing debris from the bottom of the pool.

So sand filter balls not only look good enough to eat but they do a top job in filtering your pool water too.

Are they the future?

We thinks so.