This works well. But I live in AZ, where we get constant dust and sand blown into the pool. This Fiber clogs my DE filter far too quickly, and I'm having to backwash monthly. Using DE I could usually go 2 months in the summer between backwashes, and never backwash in the winter.

If you live in a place where most pool contaminants are large, like leaves, and your pre-filter basket catches most of it, I think this would be a perfect product. But if, like me, you live somewhere dusty or sandy where all that particulate is reaching your filter membranes, you'll end up spending too much time and money using this product.

Great product, just not for the AZ desert.

I've been using this for several years now, first as an additive for a cartridge filter, and for the last three years as a full replacement for DE in a DE filter. A cup in the cartridge filter improved the effectiveness of the filter. I no longer needed to use clarifier or metal remover to get the water really clear, and needed to run the filter much less. In the DE filter, it leaves the water crystal clear, and I can run the filter only a few hours a day.

The only downsides are that in a cartridge filter, you need to clean the cartridge more often, and in the DE filter, some of the media will blow through the filter and back into the pool in the first few hours after backwashing/recharging. If you have a really powerful filter pump, this could be a problem. But it's worth the extra vacuuming the day after recharging, as the pool is much cleaner.

I've also found that I use a whole lot less chemicals since switching to Fiber Clear. I no longer need clarifier, metal remover, or algaecide, and the pool requires about half the chlorine in a season.

Do not mix DE and Fiber Clear, and clean the filter thoroughly before switching to it, as the mixture will clog the filter almost immediately.

DE pool filter

Pool always had a hint of cloudiness in spite of good chlorine levels. Within 1 week of using this the pool is sparkling clean. Other products to eliminate phosphates render the pool very cloudy requiring every day filter cleaning for a week. This requires nothing but adding to skimmer. Will never be without this product. It is great.

I like fiber clear. It does a great job filtering, and it's biodegradable unlike DE and some of the other alternatives. I'm not afraid of getting lung cancer every time I use it. There is a downside to switching to fiber clear. You have to open the filter and remove the previous filter media before you can switch to fiber clear. I ignored this important warning, thinking it was overkill, but it made a big gooey mess that completely clogged the filter almost immediately. But it's worth the little bit of extra labor.

BEWARE when purchasing this particular package size. I have been buying fiber clear at my local pool supply house for about $15 per bag and though the $5 bag was a great deal. Turns out the $5 bag is about a 1/3 of the size of the larger bag I had been buying at my local store. It's convenient having it delivered to the door, but it doesn't cost any less.