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Glass filter media vs sand

Updated: 16.10.2026

You want a granular bed you can backwash, and a shop has offered crushed glass. Glass filter media vs sand, for a UK pool, is a choice between two beds that stay in the tank. You pick the one your manual allows. Finer-filtration lines stay seller claims unless the manual repeats them. Fibre balls are a wash, on the [filter balls versus sand](/hub/pool-care/filter-sand/sub/filter-sand-vs-filter-balls) page. The [filter sand comparison](/hub/pool-care/filter-sand) is those ball packs. The Products Compared editorial team set PWTAG’s public notes against UK shop prices on 15 October 2026. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You want a granular bed you can backwash, and a shop has offered crushed glass. Glass filter media vs sand, for a UK pool, is a choice between two beds that stay in the tank. You pick the one your manual allows.

Our top picks

Windspeed Windspeed 1,400 g pool filter balls

Best overall

Windspeed Windspeed 1,400 g pool filter balls
6.5/10about £11.99
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Intex Intex 29045 fibre balls, 500 g

Rank 2

Intex Intex 29045 fibre balls, 500 g
7.4/10about £10.99
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Rakiuty Rakiuty 200 g pool filter balls

Best value

Rakiuty Rakiuty 200 g pool filter balls
5.5/10about £3.99
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On this page
  1. 1.Two granular media
  2. 2.What the UK notes and shops say
  3. 3.Price and quantity
  4. 4.When sand, when glass

Two granular media

Sand for a domestic filter is dried silica, grade 16/30, in a 25 kg bag. It sits between the level marks, and you backwash it with the pump off before the valve moves. Glass is a granular bed in that same kind of tank. PWTAG Technical Note 50 names 16/30 silica to BS EN 12904 for the filters it covers, and names glass as the other common media. The grade names differ. 16/30 is sand. Glass is sold as grades 1, 2 and 3. A glass bag in the wrong grade is the wrong media, just as a silica sack in the wrong millimetre band is the wrong sand. Intex 29045 is a fibre-ball pack whose material field says Glass while the title says fibre balls. That clash is an unresolved listing, not a glass specification.

What the UK notes and shops say

PWTAG’s public glass note says glass seems to function well. The practical detail after that sentence is members-only, and the public stub does not declare glass superior. Technical Note 50 remains the sand line: 16/30 dried silica to BS EN 12904, with glass named beside it. Pool Tech Services lists grade 1 glass at 0.5–1 mm and, on that page, for filters up to 28 inch. 1st Direct Pools lists glass grades 1 to 3. All Swim recommends 16/30 sand and sells AFM separately, in 21 kg bags, as activated media, with no price captured. AFM is not grade 1 glass. Discount Leisure’s grade 1 page mentions Intex and claims 5 microns. That figure is their claim.
Windspeed Windspeed 1,400 g pool filter balls

Testsieger

Windspeed Windspeed 1,400 g pool filter balls
6.5/10about £11.99
View offer

Price and quantity

On 15 October 2026 glass undercut sand at £16.95 against £26, and it sat above sand at £29.99 against £22.50. A printed silica weight is a sand order. You stop at the label. The SX925 listing’s 6.5 kg of silica is the small-tank case: one shop bag holds more than the vessel. A printed glass weight is a glass order in the grade the maker names. 1st Direct Pools claims about 15 percent less glass. That is their claim, not a cut for every tank.

When sand, when glass

Buy 16/30 when the manual says silica or a kilogram weight of sand, and match the millimetres on the bag to the band it allows. Bag counts for a silica label are on the pool filter sand buying guide. Buy glass when the manual allows it and you can match the grade named there, such as a grade 1 band of 0.5–1 mm. Buy the glass kilograms they print. The sand-only version of this rule is on the best pool filter sand page. Backwash either bed with the pump off before the handle moves, then rinse, then filter. If the label is missing, or media keeps returning after the grade and the level are right, call a pool engineer.

Common questions

Is glass better than sand?
PWTAG’s public wording calls glass the other common granular media, and the 2019 note says glass seems to function well. The detailed glass note is members-only, so no public result here crowns glass. A 5 micron claim, such as Discount Leisure’s, stays with the shop that printed it. Choose 16/30 silica when the manual specifies sand. Choose glass when the manual allows that glass grade. A winner with no such condition is a slogan.
Is glass more expensive than sand?
On 15 October 2026 it went both ways. buyaswimmingpool’s glass was £16.95, under Pool Tech Services sand at £22.50 and PoolStore sand at £26 including VAT. Discount Leisure’s grade 1 glass was £29.99, above those sand prices, and Pool Tech’s own glass was £24.99. Centurywise was £21.60 including tax. Compare the two bags you would actually order, and add carriage. All Swim notes extra carriage, with free collection in Cardiff.
Do I backwash glass the same way?
Both stay in the tank. Pump off, backwash until the waste is clear, rinse, then filter. Bestway says not to move the valve while the pump runs, and to keep a sand bed between the marks. AES’s routine timing is about three to five minutes of backwash and about ten seconds of rinse, for their sand-filter guide. A shop claim of less backwash water remains that shop’s claim unless your manual repeats it.
What does grade 1 mean?
Grade 1 is a glass band, not the label 16/30. Pool Tech Services prints 0.5–1 mm and, on that page, filters up to 28 inch. Other shops print about 0.5–1 mm or 0.6–1.2 mm. 1st Direct Pools lists grades 1 to 3, so glass alone does not name the band. Sand’s 16/30 label splits too, from 0.4–0.8 mm on some sacks to 0.5–1.0 mm at Holcim. Buy the grade name your maker uses.
Can I put glass in an Intex sand filter?
Use glass when that Intex manual allows it and names the grade and the weight. The SX925 listing specifies 6.5 kg of silica, not a glass weight, and says the sand is not included. Discount Leisure mentions Intex and claims 5 microns, which is the shop’s sentence. The 29045 material field says Glass on a fibre-ball product. That is a clash on a ball listing, not permission to fill the tank with glass.
How much less glass do I need?
Use the glass weight the maker prints. 1st Direct Pools claims about 15 percent less than sand. Apply that only when your manual tells you to. The SX925’s 6.5 kg of silica is not a universal glass dose with 15 percent removed. PoolStore’s sand examples run from 50 kg to 425 kg, and a wrong percentage at that size is several bags. If no glass weight is printed, order the sand kilograms that are.

Related pages

How to change pool filter sand

Filter sand

Best pool filter sand for a UK domestic sand filter

Pool filter sand: the 16/30 grade and the 25 kg bags

Filter balls vs sand: backwash the bed or wash them

Sources

Public UK sources and amazon.co.uk listings used for this comparison, checked on 15 October 2026.

  1. PWTAG Technical Note 50: swimming pool filter specification (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  2. PWTAG filtration rate calculator (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  3. Holcim UK swimming pool filter sand (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  4. PoolStore filter sand 16/30, 25 kg bag (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  5. h2ofun swimming pool sand filter media, 25 kg (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  6. Intex: play sand and beach sand in a sand-filter pump (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  7. HSE INDG463: control of exposure to silica dust (retrieved 15.10.2026)
  8. Poolpro fibre-ball media for Intex sand-filter pumps, 500 g (retrieved 15.10.2026)