Pleatco Advanced Cartridge for Your Pool & Spa - Review

Great misconceptions of the 21st century: 

 A penny dropped from the Empire State building can’t kill someone, but it would hurt.

Tapping a can of soda won’t stop it from exploding when you open it.

Chewing gum doesn’t take seven years to digest if you swallow it.

 Blood is not blue when it’s in your veins.

All filter Cartridges are basically the same.

This last one is believed to be true by many homeowners and pool service professionals. But Pleatco has set out to prove everyone wrong. Not only that, but Pleatco has set the new standard that will be tough to match: Pleatco Advanced.

I know this is starting to sound like a sales pitch, but I assure you that I don't sell any pool products directly and I do not work for Pleatco. I've built a solid internet reputation through YouTube and Amazon.com with honest, unbiased product reviews. With that out of the way I was BLOWN AWAY by the test results of the Pleatco Advanced.

If you want to see the test for yourself here is the video:

THE TEST:

For the test I used my own pool filter - Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 320 sq ft.

I dumped in a 10 lbs. Bag of D.E. - Diamotecous Earth (D.E. filter element).
A 4 quart bag of potting soil, and 1 lbs. of dirt.

I will also add that my wife was not home so I could play Mad Scientist minus the evil chuckling :-) 

I did get busted later when she watch the video...

Just a note about D.E. - it will damage and clog a cartridge filter media. I've seen this firsthand out in the field when a customer adds it to their cartridge filter after getting bad advice from a pool store clerk who forgets to ask what type of filter they have. 

So I wanted to see if it would destroy the Pleatco Advance cartridges - Muwahahahahahahahahahaaha!(Sorry Couldn't resist).

So I poured in enough D.E. for three 36 sq ft D.E. filters (comparable filter size to my 320 filter).  But wait, I wanted some large particle debris so I added a bag of soil (I removed my pump basket so it would go directly into the filter). Last, I figured some dirt would complete the task - "Must......Destroy........ Pleatco.......Advanced!"

THE RESULTS:

The first thing I noticed after 24 hours was that the pool was still crystal clear and the pressure gauge on the filter didn't budge- WHAT!

This is how they looked

Just a note - I installed a brand new gauge right before the test - so I know the reading was right on. The PSI was at 20 before I started and still at 20 the next day. AMAZING!

Slightly Dirty...

So I went ahead and removed the lid. I figured the cartridges would be pretty messed up. I was expected broken bands and that the filter pleats bulging. Here is the actual photo when I took the lid off. CRAZY!

Now I wondered if they would actually come clean. I know soil really stains the cartridge media and I thought the D.E. compacted on their would also cause some permanent damage. So I cleaned them off.  And the results were AMAZING, AGAIN!

After cleaning them off

Here is a photo of the four cartridges after cleaning them. I put them back in my filter and started the pool up. The pressure gauge read 20 PSI. So I am truly impressed by the Pleatco Advanced Cartridges. They survived a serious Mad Scientist like test and emerged intact looking like new. So not all filter cartridges are the same as you can see from the Pleatco Advanced Cartridges.

To learn more about the Pleatco Advanced Cartridges you can click on this link and visit their website: http://www.pleatco.com/advanced.html