Another Baquacil to BBB story!!

In April of 2005 we bought an above ground pool for our son. Before that we had a blow up 16ft pool for two years. We'd used the evil chlorine tablets and the water was always a little cloudy. So, when it came time to buy the new pool we fell for the Baquacil speech hook, line and sinker. For about the first month the water was great! But, after that it just went downhill. It was always something we were battling. One month it would be greenish then cloudy, etc. We were constantly throwing Baquacil/money into our pool. But, the water stayed cloudy. About a month ago I'd had enough. This pool was costing us more money then we'd ever expected. Money that we just didn't have to waste. I asked the lady at the pool store if we could change to chlorine. She told me no and that if we tried we'd have a disaster on our hands. I came straight home and started researching Baquacil to Chlorine conversion on the net. Right away I came across this site. That day I probably spent at least 5 hours reading through all of the threads on the pool forum and every bit of info on poolsolutions. My head was dizzy from all of the numbers and abbreviations!! But, I told my husband it had to be done. I showed him some of the photos pictured here with pea soup to crystal clear water. His eyes just about popped out of his head. He said "go for it!" Two Fridays ago at 4:00 pm I dumped two gallons of bleach in and crossed my fingers. Instantly the water turned green. The next morning I tested the water and added more bleach. A few hours later we backwashed the sand filter. That evening added more bleach. Sunday morning I could see the bottom of my pool for the first time since June of 2005!! Yay!! In went more bleach! By 3:00 pm the water was crystal clear. I hopped into the pool and vacummed the bottom and wiped down the walls with a washcloth. The we turned off the filter, dumped out the sand, rinsed out the filter and added new sand. The old sand came out greenish with what I can only describe as small curd cottage cheese-ish stuff in it. Yuck! Then added a few cups of DE to the filter. After the filter ran awhile I added some stabilizer. The next morning added more bleach and some borax since the Ph was a bit low. This past Friday night I added 40lbs of water softener salt pellets after reading Raddish's post. It took about 30 minutes to dissolve.

I am proud to say that my pool looks and feels awsome now! I can't stop looking at it! My son and his friends no longer need to wear water goggles. The water doesn't sting their eyes at all. My hair isn't crunchy after swimming, my skin is softer, our clothes aren't getting bleached out and we don't really have any of that bleach odor that I had when using tablets. Last year my husband refused to get into the pool. Now everyday when he gets home from work he jumps right in!

I couldn't have done this without this forum, the poolsolutions site and all of you and your great information! Thank you so very much. You've made our family alot happier and saved us a TON of money!!! I'm already bragging about this place and giving people the url!! Thanks again! :D

Dawn & Family