Upon the encounter of bacteria by any living organism, beneficial or negative outcomes may and will occur. Thus, it is absolutely necessary to take precaution and to avoid pathogenic bacteria, as these tiny prokaryotic microorganisms will invade the body and cause mild to severe infectious diseases, including diarrhea, cholera, syphilis, anthrax, leprosy and many more. The ones with a weak immune system such as kids and elderly are most likely to suffer from these severe infections. Not to be scared, chances are that one won’t even encounter 1% percent of a total of five nonillion (5×1030) bacteria on Earth, simply because just as humans reside in different parts of the world bacteria live under different conditions and in separate environments.

Water is one of the numerous environments where pathogenic bacteria thrive, especially in pools and spas. There bacteria could be found anywhere, from the actual water to pool edges. Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Ecoli, and Mycobacteria are the three most common bacterium found in the swimming pool and spa environment, although other bacteria and parasites such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia can often be just as dominant. Water is a suitable habitat for these pathogens to thrive and reproduce in.

It becomes even more suitable for these tiny microorganisms when there are elevated organic loads, poor filtration, and warm to hot temperatures. More importantly to note is that often disinfecting and cleansing agents for pools and spas do a poor job at killing these pathogenic creatures. Further these organisms are invisible to the naked eye and can often be overlooked. Thus, it is absolutely important to take proper action against bacteria, to prevent any types of diseases from occurring.

The best advice one can get to stay protected is knowledge. Thus, here is what you need to know about bacteria to stay healthy and safe for years to come. First, one of the most common ways bacteria are transferred to the pool is through shedding from infected humans. Second, damp and hot environment will always promote growth of bacteria. Third, bacteria tend to accumulate on filters and in areas with poor hydraulics and water movement. Fourth, bathers often pick up bacteria on their hands and feet and transfer them to water; therefore it is absolutely necessary for all bathers to shower before going into the pool. Finally, organic loads such as skin cells, hair, urine, and other bodily substances act as a source of nutrients for bacteria growth.

Therefore, here are some risk management solutions. Proper maintenance of adequate disinfectant and pH levels is a must. Thorough cleaning of pool and spa interiors, surroundings, and even the pipe-work, must be performed on regular basis. Showering prior to pool or spa entry is a must and should be enforced. Number of bathers and duration in spa and pool should be monitored and kept below the maximum levels. Finally it is absolutely necessary to use proper filtration technology.

Nowadays there are is a market full of filter cartridges for pools and spas, but how does one make an educated choice when buying the right one that will get the job done when it comes to protecting you and your family from bacteria? When picking out the cartridge always ask yourself are the endcaps anti-bacterial? Most cartridge manufacturing companies do not invest enough resources to provide such fine quality cartridges. Here at Pleatco we prioritize our customer’s health and invest in the finest materials to provide you with the best quality cartridge filter. Rest assured, when you take out your cartridge for regular cleaning, you will not have bacteria stuck to your finger tips. However, to give our customers an even better product we have put our resources into designing top of the line filter cartridge, Pleatco Plus. This line is made from an anti-bacteria media and as a result prevents bacteria from growing inside your pool and spa, thus providing you with the healthiest and purest water possible. In conclusion, always go for anti-bacterial products when picking out your filter cartridges to get the most enjoyment out of your aquatic venues while protecting your health and the health of others..

Pleatco+Plus Antimicrobial Filters

The water in your pool or spa is only as clean as the filter you use. The latest PLEATCO+PLUS ANTIMICROBIAL Filter Cartridges are built with revolutionary new BLUE Johns Manville Filtration Fabric which filters out contaminants and inhibits the growth of bacteria - making sure your water is always perfectly clear, clean & pure.

IF YOU WANT ADVANCED PERFORMANCE over and above regular filtration, UPGRADE TO PLEATCO+PLUS.

PLEATCO+PLUS uses Antimicrobial product protection to protect the filter cartridge from being a nest for bacteria, mold and algae that can cause odors and product deterioration. PLEATCO+PLUS ANTIMICROBIAL Filter Cartridges are the ONLY product to harness this technology in both the MEDIA and the END CAP.

PLEATCO+PLUS ANTIMICROBIAL protection is built into products during manufacturing to provide continuous antimicrobial product protection.

Microbes or micro-organisms are living cells that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Microbes such as bacteria, mould and mildew can double every 20 minutes. In some cases, algae can damage product surfaces such as your swimming pool filter.The ANTIMICROBIAL protection penetrates the cell wall of these micro-organisms making them unable to function, grow and re-produce. Pleatco ANTIMICROBIAL protection works continuously... for the lifetime of your Pleatco+PLUS Premium Filter Cartridge.

The PLEATCO+PLUS ANTIMICROBIAL sheath helps prevent, inhibit, retard the growth of bacteria on the filtration media. This helps prevent odor and staining and makes the cartridge easier to clean.

•Prevents bacteria, mold, and mildew from growing by halting the cell functions of these microorganisms.

•Not an extra layer of protection, but rather the necessary protection. Regular filter media does not destroy these pathogens. While the anti-microbial filter media physically pierces the outer membrane of the microorganisms in contact and fully destroys the pathogens, thus preventing them from future growth.

•The flow rate is not affected and energy efficiency is preserved.

•The antimicrobial media does not rely on physical trapping, leaves no chemical residue, requires no external energy source, contains no moving parts, and is non-toxic.

•The antimicrobial filtration technology can provide treatment for a wide variety of water protection programs and pathogenic conditions.
•Safe to handle, easy to use, most of all health friendly.

•Can remove a variety of pathogens such as Ecoli, Legionella, Cryptosporidium, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, etc.

•Because it destroys the functions of these pathogens as they pass through the anti-microbial, it prevents the development of resistive strains. Long term better for your pool, eliminates the possibility of new pathogens developing in your pool.

We all wear sun block to protect ourselves from sunburn, we should all use anti-microbial media to protect ourselves from skin infections and other diseases caused by these pathogens.

Less chances of getting sick especially if kids and elderly use the pool or anyone with a weakened immune system.

Less of a need to jack up the pool with disinfecting chemicals, as long as the proper ratios are used and minimal quantities are met, no need for maximum amount of chemicals to be used. Better for the environment, better for you!

Pleatco+Plus Antimicrobial Cartridges lasts longer, less of a need for strong and expensive chemicals, reduces doctor visits ( long stretch…..but nevertheless)

Safer than DE filtration and better filtration than sand or regular media.- Quality… the best there is on the market. Worth the investment, if you want your family healthy..

Unfortunately, the pool and spa industry has used the same filtration media and cartridge design for over 20 years. YES, TWENTY YEARS…when so much has changed!  Cartridge filtration is used to purify materials in pharmaceutical and other high-technology applications. Therefore, we knew Pleatco’s scientists could find a better solution for pool and spa filtration. For nearly two years our research required visiting companies around the world. We tested hundreds of different materi­als and performed long-term experiments in Pleatco’s state-of-the-art lab. Lastly, we conducted field tests in homeowners’ pools and spas throughout the United States. In the end, by partnering with Johns Manville, we have created the finest material used to filter pools and spas in the world.

Filtration fabric also referred as MEDIA is compared to the brain of the filter cartridge, as it is the most intelligent component of the filter cartridge. The media can make the cartridge perform effectively and efficiently.

MEDIA: Sand filtration uses sand as the media for filtration. The grids use D.E as media along with the fabric wrapped around the grids as a medium of filtration. Pleatco filter cartridges use Spunbonded non-woven polyester media developed with John’s Manville for filtration.

Cartridge filter came into existence in the pool and spa market since mid 1960, Industry till date uses the same media across different segments, the media is the same and the only factor that varies is the square footage and cartridge size.


A cartridge filter, traps the dirt within the web of its media, the larger particle gets plugged into those webs and the smaller particles are by passed until encountered by a smaller web opening or a pre existing dirt particle.

The image above is the indicative of how easy it is for our JM media to capture fine particle dirt as compared to other competitor media.  Making Pleatco cartridges perform 30% faster than Reemay media and much more efficiently than other competitor media.

Pleatco co-developed the new JM media for all Pleatco Pool and Spa cartridges. The JM media is spunbonded polyester which is not only more physically stronger but also advanced engineer to perform more effectively and efficiently.

Pleatco Technology Center along with Johns Manville R&D Labs conducted some joint studies before co-developing our JM media. We studied the Reemay media and compared it with our newly co-developed JM media in test labs, test pool and spa and we were so confident that we conducted a blind test with various pool owners in various states from the east coast to west coast.

• JM CLEANS FASTER
The JM media complements Pleatco’s ‘Free-Flow’ Core design, allowing the higher efficiency media to more rapidly clean the water while using less energy and maintaining strong flow. Pleatco has always made the best cartridge filters in the industry. The best just got better!

• STRONGER FABRIC
The polymer structure of the Johns Manville media is more durable than Reemay. In the toughest durability tests currently used in the industry, JM’s media exceedsReemay in every test

• ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The uniform distribution of the pore sizes in Johns Manville media results in better flow, leading to lower energy consumption.

The primary difference between the fabrics lies in the fiber diameter and how it is produced.  Assuming we are comparing fabrics with the same unit weight (“3 OZ = 3 OZ per SQ YD”), a fabric containing a filament with a finer diameter must have more number of filaments to reach the same unit weight as a fabric with coarser filaments. 

(Crude example – I can make $1 by using 4 quarters or by using 100 pennies.)

JM is able to produce an average of 3.5 (20 micron) denier filaments where as Reemay produces an average of 4.4 (28 micron) denier filaments.  Prior to the lay out to create fabric web, the filament undergoes a stretching process to give it strength. There have to be good controls in place to maintain tolerances on such a finer diameter fiber.

There is one additional significant difference in the creation of the polyester web.  Both companies rely on jets or spinnerets to lay down the polyester filament into a final sheet.  Reemay relies on the use of a series of diagonal jets to distribute the fiber.  JM uses a rotating head, which more evenly distributes the filament throughout the web.  This rotation also has the added benefit of having a certain amount of curled fibers which create more cross over points.  Having more cross over points yields more pores which are smaller.  Smaller pores provide finer filtration.

Bottom line - The JM technology provides an increase of better distributed pore size.

Conducted under controlled environment / test parameters and comparable variables at the Pleatco Technology Center, April 2012 .

• JM CLEANS FASTER
The JM media complements Pleatco’s ‘Free-Flow’ Core design, allowing the higher efficiency media to more rapidly clean the water while using less energy and maintaining strong flow. Pleatco has always made the best cartridge filters in the industry. The best just got better!

• STRONGER FABRIC
The polymer structure of the Johns Manville media is more durable than Reemay. In the toughest durability tests currently used in the industry, JM’s media exceedsReemay in every test

• ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The uniform distribution of the pore sizes in Johns Manville media results in better flow, leading to lower energy consumption.

Nobody talks about cores. Why? Because all of our competitors use PVC pipe with holes drilled in them. Take a few seconds and look inside any of our competitor’s cartridges and then look inside ours... you’ll see the difference immediately. It’s that simple. Pleatco’s cores allow for the even flow of water through the entire cartridge which increases filtration, uses all the JOHNS MANVILLE®, superior performance filtration fabric, and makes it easier for the pump to move water through the entire cartridge. In the final analysis, Pleatco’s Free Flow Cores are designed to be Cores!



Don't be confused. You can have the most efficient filtration fabric in the world, but if the water flow is inhibited by a poorly designed core, it's just not going to perform properly. A poorly designed filter cartridge creates undue pressure throughout the entire filtration system. Pleatco filter cartridges meet the highest standards. We are leading the way by educating the industry and consumers as to what constitutes a well built, quality cartridge. The substantial efficiencies created by our free flow cores results in CLEANER WATER, LESS ENERGY and LONGER PRODUCT LIFE..