Baquacil and Algae

[ChampC]

I started using Baquacil last year with great success. This year though I treated it with the shock and sanitizer/algistat now 2 weeks later I've got algae problems again and there's no trace of the shock. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

[aylad]

You'll find very few Baquacil proponents on this site--most of the users here that have personal experience with Baq have converted to chlorine because of problems like yours, and expensive upkeep pools they can't swim in because they can't clear them up.

Janet

[SLS]

Your a typical case, sometimes you get two years before problems start. I used baq for three years. The last year it cost me at least 1,200 to treat my 32,000 pool. It was more than that but I decided I would not keep track of it anymore. I had to shock every week (or more) to keep any shock in it at all. My main problem was water mold.

I would strongly recommend you to convert to chlorine now, especially if you have a very large pool. It is going to cost a lot to straighten it up.

I use the bbb method recommended on this site with great success. I don't have any problems with chlorine smell, red eyes, etc that the baq people use to get you to use their product. It probably cost me around 6 bucks a week to run my pool now. (2 - 3 gals of bleach and a 1/2 box of borax). If I have to shock it cost me 6.50. Can't do that with Baq can you?

If you decide to convert there are plenty of people here to help you through it. Don't let the pool store help you or it will cost you more. Don't start dumping a lot of chemicals in your pool other than chlorine (bleach). Lots of people come in here often that have done it as describe in the other posts here and I think everyone has been very pleased with the outcome.

I would buy a good test kit as soon as possible .... either off this site or through another source. It will be worth every dollar you spend on it.

Take care and good luck.

[b2001]

I went thru 2 years of fighting with bacquacil before I converted in April when I opened my 14,300 gallon AG pool. My sanitizer level was always between the recommended 30 to 50 ppm. I always put in the weekly pro-team and algistat treatments. I usually put in 2 to 3 bottles of the premium algistat treatment in the course of a summer. I was told to put in phos-free to combat the white mold. I was sold flouculant to combat the cloudiness. I usually put in 3 gallons of shock at a time - it was ALWAYS immediately consumed. I know now that it was just being consumed by organic matter in the pool. My pool was pretty much cloudy for those 2 years.

I always had issues with brown algae, green algae, white mold, and cloudy water. I had to continuously maintain my cartridge filter - it would build up pressure in less than a week, and I had to always scrub my pool sides and bottom a minimum of once a week, usually every 5 days to keep the green algae from building up - it always grew.

The second year, I finally got pretty good at it, but my pool turned green every time it rained, as it rained. After several storms, I got behind in the cycle, and fought cloudy water the rest of the season. I rotated several cartridges to try and stay on top of the filtering. I ran my filtering at least 12 hours a day, and 24/7 when I had problems. Of course, I ws dumping the 3 gallons of shock in at least weekly or after every rain - at $50 a pop.

Here's the deal with bleach from about the 3rd week in April until now. The pool is as clear as it has ever been the entire period this year - in fact I can't believe how clear it is. I've not taken the cartridge filter out once to clean it - it remains at a steady 10 psi. I've not yet scrubbed the pool sides or bottom since I converted - I vacuum out the dirt on the bottom once a week. I have absolutely seen no evidence of algae this entire period. There have been several thunderstorms, and the pool has remained crystal clear.

The cost, the high maintenance, and my personal issues with bacquacil and metals vs. chlorine in combating viruses - that I read about on this site - led me to convert. Heck, one of the reasons I went with bacquacil to begin with was it wouldn't "smell like chlorine does" (of course the other is the pool store told me it would be easy to maintain), but that's not the case either. I'm finally living what Ben said was the intent of this website - I'm enjoying my pool. All I'm doing is vacuuming, performing my own chemistry measurements with my own kit, and keeping the chlorine ppm wihin recommended ranges with bleach.

When I converted, I let my sanitizer level go down to about 15 ppm. It took about 30 gallons of bleach over 4 days to completely convert, running my filter 24/7, and cleaning the bacquacil crap from it often.