How to Clean a Swimming Pool Filter Cartridge

A cartridge filter system cleans pool water by trapping impurities such as dirt, oils and foreign particles. This debris gathers on the many folds or pleats that give the cartridge such a large surface area and begins to reduce filtering efficiency. The simple solution is to replace the old cartridge with a new one, thus returning your system's filtering capacity to 100 percent. The practical and more environmentally conscious way is to clean and reuse the cartridge, which is expensive.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 5-gallon bucket
• Garden hose
• Bottle of cartridge filter cleaner
• Rubber gloves

1. Fill an empty 5-gallon bucket with fresh water and add to it a bottle of pool filter cleaner. Read the instructions on the label of the cleaner for handling and pouring precautions. Additionally, make sure that the label states that it's for use with cartridge filters.

2. Turn off your pump and filter system, restrict water flow by the use of gate valves or screw-in plugs and remove the cartridge from the cartridge canister.

3. Use a garden hose to remove any exterior dirt or debris on the outside of the filter. Don't use a pressure washer to clean the cartridge, or you will ruin the material and make the cartridge unusable.

4. Place the cartridge into the filter solution and let it sit overnight. Cover the bucket with a loose lid and place it somewhere where no children or animals can get to it.

5. Using protective rubber gloves, remove the cartridge from the solution after a minimum of 8 hours. Thoroughly rinse the cartridge with a garden hose.

6. Dump the solution as recommended on the label instructions. Remember that the solution is probably acidic and will kill any grass that it touches. Rinse the bucket with fresh water from the garden hose and when clean, refill it with fresh water. Dunk the cartridge into the fresh water until all of the cleaning solution is out of it. Hose the cartridge one last time before re-inserting it into the filter canister.

Tips & Warnings

• Filter cartridges degrade over time and can never equal their initial filtering capacity once used. Have several spare cartridges on hand to swap out with the one you plan to clean to reduce filtering down time. Use muriatic acid or pH in a bucket to remove mineral staining from the cartridge.
• Always make sure to remove all filtering solution before the re-introduction of the cleaned filter into the filtering system. Never do this cleaning with children or animals present, or leave the materials where they're accessible to them.