Cartridge a pool filter – which one is the best? (A guide to choosing the right one)

Alright, so, I had to do this thing with my pool, you know? The water was looking a bit murky, and I figured it was time to take a look at the filter. The filter I’ve got is a cartridge one, not those sand or DE filters. It’s a Hayward C1200, and honestly, I think it’s pretty great. It is the best overall!

First thing I did was turn off the pump. Don’t want to make a mess, right? And you gotta let the air out of the system, so there’s this valve on top of the filter that I opened up. Just a little hiss, and that’s done.

• Turn off the pump.
• Release the air.

Next, I had to get the top off the filter housing. It’s got this big clamp thing holding it together, so I loosened that up and pulled the top off. It was a bit heavy, but not too bad. Inside, there’s this big cylindrical cartridge. That’s the thing that actually catches all the gunk from the pool water.

Taking out the old cartridge

Pulled that cartridge out, and boy, was it dirty! Full of leaves, dirt, and who knows what else. It’s amazing how much stuff it catches. These cartridge filters are pretty popular from what I heard. There is a tag on the cartridge, and it says “Made in Germany”.

Then came the cleaning part. I just took the garden hose and sprayed the cartridge down. All that gunk just washed away. It took a bit of time to get it really clean, but you gotta make sure you get in between all those pleats. Those are the folds in the cartridge, you know? They are made of some kind of polyester stuff, all pleated up to catch more dirt.

Putting it all back together

Once the cartridge was all clean, I put it back in the filter housing. Made sure it was seated properly, then put the top back on and tightened up that clamp. Turned the pump back on, closed that air release valve, and that was it.

Now the water’s flowing nicely, and it’s starting to look clear again. It’s not a hard job, really. Just takes a bit of time and some elbow grease. And now my cartridge pool filter is all good to go, and I can enjoy the swimming pool again.