Every year, every manufacturer claims to have produced a revolutionary new product that will change the way we look after our pools and on closer scrutiny they are just a reworking of an old product but the Multicyclone Plus is a genuine new product and we are very impressed by it.
New products that are a big improvement on what was there before are quite rare in the pool industry. The only two of note in the past few years were Sea Klear clarifier and the Nirvana Heat Pump. Now we can add the MutliCylone Plus to that very short list.
The MutliCylone Plus was developed from the MutliCylone which is a device that is placed in the pipework before a sand filter. It uses centrifugal force to pre-filter out about 80% of the dirt and so gives the sand filter much less work to do. The MutliCylone Plus takes the idea to the next logical level. If 80% of the dirt is gone then a paper filter can handle the remaining 20% quite easily. So a paper filter was placed on top of the MutliCylone and the MutliCylone Plus was born.
The technology inside the MutliCylone Plus is the same as is inside the Dyson carpet cleaner. Dyson have the patent for this technology for use in air, Waterco the manufacturer of the MutliCylone Plus have the patent for its use in water.
The MutliCylone Plus - a revolution in pool filtration
The pool water enters at the bottom and then goes through a bank of cyclones causing a vortex from which the dirt is spun out and gathers in the sediment bowl. From there the water goes through the paper filter which catches all the fine dirt that was not spun out. When the sediment bowl needs emptying just open the purge valve and only 15 litres of water is required to wash it out. The manufacturers claim that paper filter cartridge needs cleaning every 6 months but we recommend cleaning it every month or so with instant filter cleaner.
The advatages of the Multicyclone Plus include
- It is much cheaper than a sand filter
- It takes up much less space in your pool room than a sand filter
- It is easier to maintain than a sand filter
- No backwashing means a saving of thousands of litres of water
- No backwashing means not having to heat up fresh water used to replace the backwash water
- It is easy to install
- No costly and time consuming sand changes.
So there must be some disadvatages to the MutliCylone Plus? Well, one big disadvatage is for the pool trade is that no filter sand changes are required so many will be reluctant to push it because it does them out of a lucrative source of work in the winter. The largest version of the MutliCylone Plus is big enough for a 75m3 pool. That is not particularly big, about a 10m x 5m or 16ft x 32ft pool. So owners of larger pools will not be able to use one on its own. Waterco do plan to develop the technology for bigger pools including comercial pools also though.
All in all we think this is a very good new product and are happy to promote it.
Installation is relatively simple. Typically you would install it directly above the outlet of your circulation pump. In the picture below a Salt Chlorinator is attached above it but in a normal installation a couple of 90 degree bends would take the pipe vertically downwards and back to the swimming pool return line. It is not very heavy and the pipes will support its weight. Alternatively there is a stand for it to sit on the ground.
The Multicyclone plus is typically installed directly above the pump outlet
