Zeo, Inc ZeoSand-50 ZeoSand Swimming Pool Sand Replacement, Alternative Filter Media, 50 P, White

We purchased a sand filter system and decided to go with ZeoSand instead of regular sand. In my opinion, it was a great decision. Our water seems a little clearer with this sand in the filter system that is has ever been. It is lighter than regular sand an you don't have to use as much, as well. Completely recommend this product if you have a sand pool filter system.

My above ground pool set empty for 8 years due to a disability. I finally got a contractor to come out and install a new liner and filter setting it up with Zeosand as I had in the previous filter. Previously I had always rinsed the Zeosand but I didn't have that option this time. I have a 100 lb of it in a Hayward 18 inch filter which normally requires 150 lb of sand. All I did was back wash it for approximately 6 minutes or until the window was clear, and then I changed it to rinse for about 3 or 4 minutes and so far I've had no cloudiness, no green tinge, the pool's crystal clear and no problems. My pool holds approximately 13,000 gallons, a 21' round that is dug out in the center.

UPDATE-- I'm now at 2.5 years. Great product! I definitely use less chemicals, and the pool needs less maintenance than it did before I started using the zeosand. I'm not even using pure zeosand, I'm using a mixture of sand and zeosand. This is better than having a cartridge filter that needs to be cleaned regularly.Apparently you can "refresh" zeosand with a salt mixture of 0.8 lb. of salt per gallon of water. The directions are on their website. According to the website:"Renew filtration efficiency and refresh ZeoSand’s chloramine control with a salt water rinse. ZeoSand will need to be refreshed when the chloramine odor (combined chlorine) begins to increase. Typically, the home pool needs to be refreshed every two years. Commercial pools, due to the increased bather load, must be refreshed more often."UPDATE-- took about a month for me to really see a difference, but this is an awesome product. It took about 2 weeks for the green tinge to completely go away. I don't think the light green color was caused by algae, when I brushed, there was never algae stuck to the walls, nor to the bottom of the pool. The water simply had a light green tinge to it. I think it's the product that does that, but eventually it goes away.After a year of having it in the filter using a combination of zeosand and regular sand (see below), I can say that I have been using about half of the chlorine I had used in the past. My pool hasn't turned green even after neglecting it (I use chlorine tabs and sometimes it's gone a few weeks with none, because I forgot to replenish the floater). The filtration level of this product is is superb, but for some reason it takes time. It took 2 weeks for the light green color to go away, and another 2 weeks to get crystal water, clearer than what you typically get from a sand filter. Also, I should mention that I have a variable speed Pentair pump and I run the pool at VERY low speed 24/7. That might make a difference in my experience with the product, since the water is always being filtered.ORIGINAL REVIEW - Given that many of the reviewers mentioned that after using the zeosand they either had an algae problem, or constantly had zeosand dust making its way into their pool, or the zeosand would filter out their chemicals, I decided to try something else. I have a 250 lb filter, instead of going with (5) 25lbs bags of zeo sand, I decided to use (3) 50 lbs of pool sand and top it with (1) 50 lbs of zeosand. I read that someone else did something similar and had great results.I backwashed and rinsed the pool sand twice. Then I added the 50 lbs of zeosand and backwashed it FIVE times. The strange thing is that up to the forth time there was still zeosand residue showing up in the filter's sight glass. I used over 1000 gallons backwashing, but it wasn't a problem because I had planned to put some fresh water in the pool. It's now been 3 days, my water is balanced but the water is still turbid with a green tinge. I shocked the pool with liquid chlorine and have been running the pump 24/4. It doesn't seem to be getting better. I might shock the water again. I want to give it a full week and see what happens. I'll update my review.

After reading a few reviews from people who encountered green water after installing Zeosand, I was a bit hesitant to try it. But, I decided to go for it anyway since I used to routinely add DE or fiber clear to our sand filter to improve its filtering ability. With this stuff, I figure I won't need to mess with any additives. Our sand filter sprang a leak and I was replacing it, so I needed to use *something*.First off, the instructions on the bag differ from the guidance given on the Zeosand website. The bag says to "backwash until clear" but the web site says to "backwash for a full two minutes". In my case, the backwash water was clear long before 2 minutes ... so I stopped (because that's what the bag said). I then started the filter. In hindsight, I wish I'd have read their website and seen the "full two minutes" recommendation.The next morning, the pool was GREEN. I haven't had algae issues in a while now and this was a different green anyway so I assumed that I had the dreaded "green water problem" I'd read about in other reviews (one reviewer even drained their pool ... yikes). Since there was rain in the forecast for a couple of days, I just let the pool filter run continuously while I figured out my plan of action.It's now 36 hours after starting the filter, and the water is no longer green and is crystal clear. Like, the water is clearer than I can remember seeing it (even with adding DE/fiber to our old sand). The green stuff in the water was apparently temporary and got filtered out in less than two days. That's not so terrible ... I just wish I knew whether it was the result of incomplete backwash after installation or just something to be aware of when switching to Zeosand.Either way, I'm super happy with my filter performance now and look forward to crystal clear water for years to come. I'm glad I made the switch!I knocked off one star because I really think the bags should have the proper instructions on them ... or at least a warning to consumers that the water may turn green temporarily and to leave the filter run to clear it.