New Owner, CDX (PHMB) to BBB Conversion

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading alot on this website and I've read everything on PoolSolutions as well, so I'm starting to get pretty familiar with things. I just bought a house that came with a 24' Doughboy Pool that was on Baquacil. Initially the hoses to the pump had leaks everywhere and wouldn't hold pressure so I drained the water a little to just below the skimmer level and took the hoses off to get replacements at the pool supply shop and then refilled the pool. I also took a water sample with me and here's what I received:
Biguanides:1.5ppm
CH:110
TA:80
pH:7.2
Acid Demand: 1
Copper:0
Iron: 0
Phosphates: 100

Seeing that the Biguanides was so low, I figured that I was ready to start with the bleach conversion. The pool supply store estimated my pool to be 15k gals. I added 4 gals of 8.25% bleach with a few cups of borax to increase the pH and then let it filter overnight. My pool started with a lot of thick green algae and leaves on the bottom because the previous owner did not cover it. I vaccumed a lot out and dipped a lot out. It has been raining for the last couple of days which made the water extremely dark green, and I could not see the bottom. But I figured it's as good a time as ever to get started. I will post readings in the morning. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have 12 more gals of bleach on standby with a plan to probably make a return trip in the next couple of days for more. Am I on the right track? Anything I missed?

You are on the right track. Be prepared for your water to turn all kinds of crazy shades of green during the conversion but you'll be glad you did it once you get it finished. The more frequently you add the bleach, the faster your conversion will go. I assume you have a sand filter. Once your conversion is over, you'll need to change the sand.

Keep us posted how it is going and welcome to the Pool Forum!

Unfortunately, the conversion process is slowed not only by measurable Baquacil (PHMB) but all the PHMB residue that's still present, but that you can't test!

The conversion info is here:
http://pool9.net/phmb/

Once you've started, you're pretty much committed to continuing to the end.

Trying to clean up algae and PHMB is not ideal. Odds are you're going to plug your filter before you're done. I'd recommend that you

+ put the filter on "recirculate" (= bypass filter) and run it 24/7.
+ Get a cheap oto kit, and begin dosing your pool with 3 gallons of PLAIN 8% household bleach EACH evening.
+ Test with OTO before adding a dose; skip the dose of you get a DARK yellow (or orange) OTO result.
+ Once all the algae is dead, begin testing in the AM, too.
+ Once your chlorine 'holds' overnight, turn OFF the pump -- but continue dosing.
+ Wait 24 - 48 hours (while maintaining chlorine!) and see if the algae and 'goo' will settle.
+ If it does, vacuum to waste.
+ Then resume circulating, but put the filter on "FILTER", and try to remove what's left.
+ Once the pool is clear, and chlorine holds overnight (test with the K2006), replace the sand in your filter.

You *may* have to replace the sand twice, if it's already totally gummed up.

Good luck!

Thanks Watermom...pool is already weird shades of green.

Pool Doc- I've switched over to recirculate instead of filter. I've been testing every 4 hours with k2006 kit. Here are my results so far starting this morning and my actions taken:

9pm last night: added 4 gals of 8% PLAIN bleach

8:00 am
FC:1
CC:4.5
Added 3 Gals of 8% bleach
12:00pm
FC:2.5
CC:2
Added 3 Gals of 8% bleach

Am I adding bleach too often?
I'll now try not to disturb the water (with vacuum) so all of the dead algae will fall to the bottom and I can vacuum pump to waste.
Pool was installed no more than 3 years ago, so I can't imagine the baquacil residue would be too bad right?
If I have the k2006, do I need the OTO kit?
The water is starting too look clearer, but there is much algae to be killed yet.

Using an OTO will preserve your reagents. Otherwise, you're gonna burn through them pretty quick. In the case of a Baquagoop conversion, accuracy in chlorine levels is not so critical so the OTO will give you close enough numbers.

You can't add bleach to often when doing a conversion.

As long as your chlorine doesn't get into the OTO orange range (or orange tinted yellow), you're not adding chlorine too often.

3 years of Baquacil? Yeah, the goop will be pretty bad.

I'm wondering if I'm getting close to the end of the conversion process...

I added enough Bleach last night at sunset to raise FC to 15ppm, and CC was at 1.5 when tested 1.5 hours after adding bleach.

This morning (almost 12 hours later) FC was at 9.5 and CC was at either 0.5 or 1. How close am I? The water is looking very clear now as well. I should also add that it has been raining all this morning, and I didn't know if that would effect the readings, but I got the water sample from about 2 fee below the water's surface. I'm out of bleach now, and am wondering if I should make another trip to the store, and how much I should stock up this time. So far I've went through 31 gals of 8% with a 15k gal pool.

It can take a LOT of chlorine to 'eat up' all the residue.

You'll be done when the chlorine level remains nearly constant from late evening to early morning.

Excellent News!!!

Overnight, my FC levels dropped by about 1ppm, if that... and my CC level was 0.5! I think I'm done! Water looks very clear, all algae is dead and on the pool floor ready to be pumped to waste. Next move? What should I do next? Buy CYA? how much and how to add? You can point me to a resource too if there is one on the next steps.

We always suggest keeping the chlorine high for one additional day for good measure. Then, you can let it drift down.

Next steps after the pool is clear:
-- Change your sand.
-- Add CYA. (You'll need 5-6 lbs.)

Or, you can use dichlor for awhile which will add CYA and chlorine. When you get the CYA up to around 50ppm, discontinue dichlor and switch to just bleach so your CYA won't get too high. (If you use dichlor, buy it from Sam's Club -- PoolBrand --- or from Amazon--- Kemtek. You can go through our test kit link in my signature to find the Kemtek if you want to go that route.)

Great job!

(Aren't you glad you converted from Baquagoop? ;) )

If you like, you can follow the pattern the Super Simple recipe => http://pool9.net/ssr/ for about 2 months. After that point, you'll need to switch to more conventional treatment.

Ok, all of the suggestions have been enacted. I kept the pool at shock level one more night, then changed the sand, then added cya. So what should I do for maintenance? FC levels should stay around 3ppm after the CYA reaches 30ppm right? Is that all I need to check? And of course remove leaves and debris regularly...is there a good maintenance thread?

Congratulations on a successful conversion!

How much CYA did you add? Maintenance is easy but I think you'll want your CYA higher than 30 -- probably more like 50. Wait until yours has had a chance to dissolve (around a week), retest and decide if you want to add more.

The routine will be test your pool in the evening and then add enough bleach to get back to the maximum needed based on your CYA level. The goal is to always keep your chlorine in the proper range without dipping below the minimum before the following evening. For more info about the connection between CYA and chlorine, read here: http://pool9.net/cl-cya/ (Until your CYA has a chance to build up, you may find that you need to add bleach a couple of times per day to keep it from dipping too low. You don't want algae!)

In your pool, (which I think is probably more like 13,500 gallons), each quart of 8.25% bleach will add about 1.5ppm of chlorine. Each of the 121-oz. jugs will add about 5.8ppm. Use those as references to help you figure out doses each evening. A bleach calculator that may be helpful is here: http://pool9.net/bleach-calc/ It actually has more calculators in the drop down menu in the upper left corner.

Keep your pH between 7.2-7.8.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions, we'll be here!