Pool Filter Separations & Explosions
Most types of pool-related injuries occur to bathers in a pool. Pool/spa filter separations, however, occur not in the water but at the pool equipment location and pose the greatest risk to someone servicing the pool equipment. Dr. Rowley and Mr. Reynolds have over 50 years of combined design experience, are dedicated to properly designing swimming pool filtration systems, and emphasize the importance of following manufacturer guidelines for servicing and repair.
Pool filters operate under pressure and are designed to be able to be opened for maintenance. If the clamping mechanism, which secures the filter lid to the filter base fails during operation, the pressure inside the filter will force the filter lid to separate from the filter base. These types of incidents occur typically during startup and not during normal operation. Water is non-compressible, so if a failure occurs during normal operation (i.e., when the filter tank is full of water), the filter lid will leak but will not fly off during separation.
If a filter lid becomes airborne upon a clamp failure, a pneumatic separation has occurred:
– A pneumatic separation can only occur when a pool filter has compressed air in it (which typically occurs when the filter tank is refilled with water after being taken apart for servicing/maintenance. After a filter tank is serviced, it is reassembled, and the pump is started in order to circulate water through the filter tank.)
– Filter tanks are manufactured with an air-relief valve (manual or automatic), which is used to bleed the air out of the filter tank as it is refilled with water. If water fills the tank faster than the air can be bled out (or if the valve was plugged or left closed so that air could not bleed out), then the air becomes compressed as water fills the tank.
– If the clamping mechanism that secures the filter lid to the filter base fails while compressed air is inside the filter, then the compressed air will expand and launch the filter lid into the air. This is the pneumatic separation.
When a filter pneumatically separates, anyone near it is at risk of receiving a serious or even fatal injury. For example, a typical 20-inch residential pool filter can easily exert over 6,000 pounds of force against its filter lid.