Bestway 58516E Flowclear 800 Gallon Sand Filter Pool Pump for Above Ground 300 to 4,800 Gallon Swimming Pools, (Sand Sold Separately)

Bought for blow up hot tub works great

Used this for an extreme pool cleanup on a ~2,000 gallon frog pond that includes a 9 year old Cumberland Slider turtle. Water was murky after 20 years of no filtration or clean-up. Slapped this little sand filter on the pond and after ~60 days, the water is crystal clear.Important notice, though: The pump on this sand filter pump WILL NOT LIFT WATER OUT OF A POND OR BODY OF WATER THAT IS BELOW IT. I installed a small submersible pump in the pond to the suction side of the sand filter to make the circulation/flow work properly.Turtle is seemingly happy about the water quality.

Bought less than a year ago today is 4/18/25 & i purchased this pump June 8th, 2024. Thought it was time to get the pool all set up. Everything was put away nicely and I had only used the pump sporadically throughout 3 months. I just bought brand new hoses this year and once everything was ready to go, the pump won't start at all. :( so freaking sad. 100$ wasted. I did fill out a warranty through their website, hopefully they will help me somehow but not getting my hopes up. I will update once they respond.

Set up was easy ish I used a YouTube video instead of the booklet since there’s just pictures and no actual directions. The bottom hose leaks no matter what we did. Still need to figure that out. So far it works great otherwise.

I bought this because the stock pump on my 14x32 summer waves pool was junk. The first summer we opened it, I did nothing but fight nasty water. We put it away for two years. Then I saw this pump at its low price for the 800gal model, so I bought it. No, it is not what is pictured. The 800gal does not have the large separate filter portion. It is one medium sized device with a small filter built into the model. It was disappointing but, I decided to give it a go anyway. It was fairly cheap, comparatively speaking. Hook up was a little confusing but, I put that on my excitement and tendency to see pictures backwards. The only water issue I had this year was mustard algae at set up. I believe this was from the year it was up and nasty and then put away. This pump and proper chemicals got rid of it quickly enough. Then it was smooth sailing all summer. One thing I did notice was, if you don’t “rinse” after you backwash, the handle gets really hard to turn and very difficult to get on the proper setting. So, after every backwash, do a proper rinse and save yourself a headache. It doesn’t have much suction for connecting a vacuum hose. It does work well enough but also, takes a while, and the little filter clogs up pretty quickly, so I have to clear it out a few times during vacuuming. All in all, it’s a good product for me and, would definitely purchase it again in a pinch. The only thing that would ever make me upgrade was if I got a bigger pool or, wanted a little more vacuum suction.

The pump and set up are fine for my 8x14 pool. My issue is the plug has no timer. The puny pump that came with the pool had a built in timer on the plug. This one needs someone to manually turn it on and off. I tried a separate timer but it trips the plug so i have to turn it on daily. I may try to rewire the puny pumps plug and this one's plug to see if that will work. Cost cut in the wrong place on this one.

This is my second unit. The first one lasted quite a few years, sitting out in the sun and weather. And with me using it. LOL. Selector valve became a little leaky and hard to turn recently. But I did not always turn it off before switching gears. (I will with this one.) Plastic is just beginning to look sun-baked on the old one, connectors were loosing their 'smooth'. Needed o-rings, a new pressure gauge, a new safety plug, a few connectors, some new hoses. Just got it all, in a new unit.On my pool, the water is changed with this once an hour? Keeps it clear. I also configured a vacuum hose with an in-line filter bag, and this has just enough power to get stuff off the bottom. But it's not quite enough to run a floating surface skimmer properly.A plastic $45 dollar pool (pool only, mid-winter every 2-3 years when it needs replacing), and this $90 filter, which will last through a few pools. No cartridges to replace. Well worth the money for the enjoyment provided. Do it.A clear top or container so you can see the sand would be cool. (We got a demo unit one year, clear sand tank. Was awesome. You could see when the sand needed a flush, and watch it back-flush.)

Listen. I got this pool second-hand. I had a cartridge pump that wasn’t worth a flip. I spent so much money on chemicals and filters and had to clean/replace the filters DAILY. I got this FlowClear 800 gallon sand pump and filter, and it cleared my pool right up. I’m not gonna lie a larger one probably would’ve worked better and would have taken less work, BUT my pool was in a mess and had a ton of algae on the bottom that had to be vacuumed out. This filter did a bang up job! I would recommend putting sand up to the minimum full line so that the water can barely circulate. I had it about halfway between the minimum and maximum fill lines initially and I needed just a little more umph. I changed the sand because, like I said, my pool had a ton of junk in it. When I changed the sand and pull less sand in it I got better circulation and suction for my vacuum. This was a great investment, and I’m glad I took the chance and bought it. If you’re on the fence. Buy it. For reference; my pool is 18 foot round x 48 inch deep. This pump (to only be for 800 gallons) circulates water and chemicals in my pool very well.