At the end of our pool season in New England, your filter has inevitably seen its share of pollen, bugs, debris and suntan lotion. And this is if you have not had any algae blooms that took over your pool at any point during the summer.
As a result, our filters work hard all season to keep our pools crystal clear and safe to swim (in conjunction with balanced water). Whether it is done in the fall when you close, or Spring before you open, we recommend a professional Acid Wash to strip all the seasons excess from the filter and start with a clean slate.
Why do we recommend doing this in the Fall over the Spring?
In the Fall, its fresh on your mind when you close the pool. As you Winterize your pool (or if you have us close it, we can take care of this for you at the time of closing) you are taking your filter apart and hosing it down anyway. The extra step to bring it to us to do a 24hour dip can make a big difference in getting any built up debris off the filter.
When you close the pool, getting the caked on DE powder or algae/debris is much easier when the filter is still wet and just finished being used. Allowing it to sit all Winter can degrade the filter and cause the filter internals to age prematurely.
By doing it in the Fall, you have a few storage options. If we have it at our warehouse, we can store if for you for the Winter at no charge after its cleaned. If you want to pick it up when its done, that is perfectly fine too and this allows you to put your filter back together clean. This makes it so much easier to open in less steps in the Spring when you start fresh.
Whether you do it in the Spring or the Fall is ultimately up to you but starting the year with a clean filter will help for that Spring cleanup and get your pool crystal clear quicker. As always, we are here to help!