Intex Krystal Clear Sand Filter Pump For Above-Ground Pool Review

Are you planning to buy a sand filter pump for your above-ground pool? In this post, I will share my honest review of the Intex Krystal Clear sand filter pump.

When I opened the pool this year, the pool water was all dark green. It looked and smelled awful. My daughter told me she’d never get in the water, lol.

I wasn’t surprised because I did not close the pool properly. First, I closed it too soon and did not shock it before closing the pool. Oh well, lesson learned. 🙂

I cleaned the pool and hooked up the Intex (1500 GPH sand filter) pump that came with the pool. I tested the water with a testing kit. I balanced the water chemistry and added liquid chlorine to shock the pool.

The pool water turned from green to light green in about 3 days. I ran the filter for about 10 hours a day. The pump was so weak and it barely circulated the water. I used the recirculate instead of the filter to keep the water moving around the pool.

I decided to change the pump and use our Vevor pump instead. I prefer to use Intex because it is so much easier to hook up the hoses. But I needed a bigger and more powerful pump to filter the water.

After I assembled the pump, I had the same leak issue from last year. The water was leaking from different connections. It was so frustrating that after I fixed the leak, I’d see another leak somewhere. Uggh.

I tried to fix the leak for 5 hours with no solution. I was exhausted. It was partly my fault because I forgot to put washers to prevent the leak. Overall, I was not satisfied with the pump design.

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We finally decided to order another Intex SX3000 Krystal Clear Filter Pump that is more powerful than we have. It took 2 weeks before the filter arrived.

Meanwhile, I used the Intex 1500 GPH sand filter and turned on the circulation mode to keep the chemicals moving in the pool. After 1 week, the water was still cloudy. I used different chemicals to make the water clear but nothing worked.

After two weeks, I finally got the new Intex Krystal Klear 3000 GPH sand filter pump. I was so excited to use the new pump so we could finally swim in the pool. My kids kept asking me when will be the pool ready for swimming.

I assembled the new Intex sand filter pump with no issues. Zero. It took me about 30 minutes to set it up because I had to add sand to the filter tank. The whole process was pretty straightforward.

I couldn’t believe how powerful this filter pump was. After 24 hours, the water was crystal clear. I was blown away by how fast it filters the water.

I also like that it circulates the water like a tornado so all the debris goes in the middle. I used an Intex handheld pool vacuum to clean the bugs and debris at the bottom of the pool. I also love that you can program the filter to turn on a daily scheduled time.

I am so pleased with the Intex Krystal clear sand filter pump and I wish I’d gotten it sooner. The key to crystal clear water is having a good filtration system. I recommend buying a much bigger filter pump for your pool. This will save you time and money on chemicals.

I don’t add chemicals to the water using the new pump as often. I vacuum the pool daily and add shock about once or twice weekly. That’s it. We now have crystal-clear water.