Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 420 sq ft Cartridge Filter
Best value — 420 sq ft for about $1,324, and the only filter near this price whose complaint tail is damage in transit rather than failure in service
Contender — The Best In-Ground Cartridge Pool Filters (2026): SwimClear vs Clean & Clear Plus vs Crystal Water
⚔️ Matchup — Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 420 sq ft Cartridge Filter vs Waterway Crystal Water 425 sq ft Cartridge Filter
Specs
| Filter area | 420 sq ft |
| Elements | 4 (multi-element) |
| Pool type | In-ground |
| Warranty | 1 yr parts on the EC- (eCommerce) SKU. The plain TradeGrade SKU bought online gets 60 days. |
Pros
- 420 sq ft at the lowest price per square foot of any major in this roundup
- Its critical reviews are almost entirely shipping damage — visible on day one and recoverable, not a failure that shows up in year three
- Deeper base than the cheaper quads it competes with: 59 owners against Waterway's 34
- The EC- SKU carries a full year online where the plain TradeGrade SKU gets 60 days
- 150 GPM maximum flow, certified to NSF/ANSI 50
Cons
- 4.2★ across 59 — the thinnest base of the three Pentairs
- 15% of its reviews are critical, and the recurring story is a big bulky box arriving damaged with hardware missing
- Needs 68 inches of vertical clearance to service, which rules out a lot of equipment pads
- Sells for $1,619 at some dealers and $1,324 on Amazon — shop the same SKU before you buy
- One owner reports the warranty requires a licensed pool company to have installed it
Arrives damaged — a shipping problem, not a service-life problem
9 of 59 ratings are critical (15.3%), and six of the nine are the unit arriving damaged rather than failing in service · critical reviews read August 2026
“Good price, good quality. Manf packaging sort of sucks, not meant for this type of shipping, other places wanted to ship freight. I got this one from ups, box was beat to hell but everything was in there, so I'm happy.”— Frank, Amazon · Verified owner
FAQ
Who is the Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 420 sq ft Cartridge Filter for?
You want four-element filtration without paying Hayward money, and you would rather risk a box arriving smashed than a tank cracking in year three.
What do owners say about the Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 420 sq ft Cartridge Filter?
4.2★ across 59 owner ratings (Amazon, read August 2026 · early data). What owners complain about: Arrives damaged — a shipping problem, not a service-life problem
What is the warranty on the Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 420 sq ft Cartridge Filter?
1 yr parts on the EC- (eCommerce) SKU. The plain TradeGrade SKU bought online gets 60 days.
✓ Safety: no active recall — No CPSC recall for any Pentair filter (full database read 2026-08-26, 9,966 records). Pentair's recalls are pool HEATERS (fire, #21119 2021; carbon monoxide, #07073 2007) and multi-manufacturer drain covers — different product lines, disclosed rather than hidden. Critical-review tail read signed-in 2026-08-26, whole field on one day: Hayward SwimClear 325 2.7% (5/187) · Pentair CCP320 2.9% (4/139) · Hayward SwimClear 425/525 4.9% (12/244 pooled) · XtremepowerUS 425 14.8% (26/176 pooled) · Pentair CCP420 15.3% (9/59) · Rx Clear 425 16.1% (5/31) · Waterway 425 20.6% (7/34) · Waterway 325 22.6% (7/31). Zero Vine reviews on every listing. Pressure vessel: stop the pump and bleed the air relief before opening the clamp ring.
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Data last verified: August 2026. Ratings are real, dated reads — never scraped or invented. Full methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.