Replace sand filter every 5–7 years.

Seven years is the max, but five is safer. Most people replace way too often—or never. Sand doesn’t wear out like a cartridge; it just gets clogged with oils and scale over time. After five years, it stops filtering as well, and you’ll notice the pressure gauge rising faster. Replace it then.

If you backwash regularly and do an occasional deep clean with a filter cleaner, you might stretch it to ten. But if your pool water stays cloudy even after a good backwash, your sand is done.

Don’t bother replacing sand more often than that. It’s not like changing oil. The sand itself doesn’t go bad—it just loses its ability to trap fine particles. Five years is the practical sweet spot for most residential pools.

Unless you inherited sand that’s been in there since the Clinton administration. Then change it yesterday.