Frustrated Baquacil Customer

OK, I just happened along this website, now after $200.00 with the pool store and several stories about how I need to get rid of my baquacil so that I can convert to Chlorine. :o

I'm one frustrated person. This is my first full year with baquacil, we had it for a month last year, closed up the pool and it has not been clear since after spending hundreds of dollars on algecide, shock etc. For the conversion I was told first that I needed to drain my pool and refill, I called a few places and another place told me that I could use a Chlorine Free Shock to eat up the baquacil. We have now put in 25 lbs ($60.00) of shock over this week and after all this I was told yesterday that my baquacil level was 5ppm, went back today and they told me it was 10ppm, how can that be? They then informed that I needed to drain half my water, which is what the first pool store told me in the first place. Sigh!! So that would be a $75.00 water bill on top of the chemicals that I apparently didn't need. :mad:

I now have tons of shock, chlorine, tabs, stabilizer, you name it, so my question is I'm not sure I'm ready for the BBB method yet, my husband was not thrilled with the idea, but I'd like to take back all my unused stuff and just buy chlorine at Walmart, get a test kit and do this with the help of this group. Is it possible to do this with the Walmart Chlorine Bags?? Is my baquacil low enough to start conversion? Do I put stabilizer in first or wait until the conversion is over.

I am grateful for any help that can be offered. I'm going to get a test kit tonight and distilled water. Just need to figure out how much chlorine to put in to get the 15ppm and if I can use the Walmart brand. :)

Just realized I forgot to give my info:

32x16 oval above ground
11,500 gallons
Sand Filter

Answered my own question on the stabilizer, that doesn't go in until after the conversion is complete.

In one sense, chlorine is chlorine. So you can use Walmart bags, but you're gonna need a lot of them. They add either stabilizer, which you don't want now, or calcium, which is OK until it gets too high.

But bleach or liquid chlorine is the best. You can get blue 5 gallon carboys of 12.5% at most pool stores--that's like 10 gallons of ultra bleach.

You basically will run Free Chlorine way, WAY up to at least 15ppm and keep it there, checking it 2 to 3x/day to keep it there, running your filter 24/7, and backwashing regularly for a couple of weeks. Then, when it's ALL clear of Bacqua-glop., you will clean your filter. If it's DE, you'll take it apart like for a winterizing cleaning. If it's cartridge, you'll replace the cartridge. If it's sand, you'll replace the sand.

The process of conversion is incredibly simple, but that doesn't make it easy.

Thanks CarlD,

If I go the bleach route am I stuck using bleach from here on out or can I start using the store bought chlorine. Not sure why my hubby is opposed to pouring bleach in the pool but he is.

I ask this because I thought I read on one of the chlorine packages that you had to be careful mixing different chlorines or something. That is it will cause dangerous gases to come off the pool.

Maybe I'm confusing it with something else or possibly another chemical, I'll have to reread the package when I get home. :)

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Originally Posted by Jaybird70

Thanks CarlD,

If I go the bleach route am I stuck using bleach from here on out or can I start using the store bought chlorine. Not sure why my hubby is opposed to pouring bleach in the pool but he is.

I ask this because I thought I read on one of the chlorine packages that you had to be careful mixing different chlorines or something. That is it will cause dangerous gases to come off the pool.

Maybe I'm confusing it with something else or possibly another chemical, I'll have to reread the package when I get home. :)

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In the water, chlorine is chlorine. Besides, liquid chlorine and bleach are the same thing--some of the pool store stuff is 12.5%, but a lot of them sell 6%--and that is IDENTICAL to Ultra bleach. 6% sodium hypchlorite solution--and the other 94% is salt-water.

You don't pour liquid chlorine/bleach on pucks or powders, and you don't mix pucks and powders. All very dangerous. Once they are dissolved in the water they are fine together.

So use bleach, use liquid chlorine--it's all the same. I just suggest the carboys because of the CONVENIENCE of them. Show hubby a bottle of Liquid Chlorine 6% and a bottle of Ultra bleach 6% so he can see they are the same.

Thanks very much,

Went ahead and ended up getting the dry chlorine as I already had a bunch that I had already bought and opened. After a whole bunch, I now have my chlorine up to 15 ppm, took 52 oz of dry mix (3.5 oz raises 1ppm with the dry mix), but I have a kit that only measures chlorine and PH as Walmart was out of the others, I'm going to check another Walmart tomorrow.

I had my numbers checked by the pool place and they said that my PH was good. However I just check it it says 6.8, should I worry about the PH right now or should I go ahead and correct it. I realize now that I should have checked it first.

Pool is looking like a dark brownish green murky mess. :) Which I'm sure is good, no goop as far as I can tell.

Do yourself a favor: never accept "good" as a measure from a pool store. Have them give you a number. "good" doesn't mean anything without the value it describes.

Be careful your powdered chlorine doesn't raise your CYA too high. If it's Di-Chlor it will raise it too high before your conversion is complete. That's why bleach/LC is better. If it's cal-hypo, it will raise your calcium level very high very quickly AND can make the water cloudy. Again, that's why bleach/LC is better.

Can I go ahead and switch over to bleach even though I started with the powder?? The power I have doe not have stabilizer, but it is Calcium Hydrochorate. I'm going to do a quick hunt for the bleach conversion info.

Just returned from Walmart with the better testing set and dinner. Checked Chlorine, it had already dropped down to 6ppm and I had to add 32oz, is that normal?

Also, should I go ahead and correct my PH or wait until after the process if over?

Not to worry, I won't be accepting anything a pool store says from here on out at face value, I'm learning to do this stuff myself and only relying on them once a month and expecting the numbers from them not an "it looks good answer". I think I've learned my lesson.

I feel so much better now, at least if I mess up it's my own darn fault. :)

I just found the bleach calculator and I realize this is probably a stupid question and I apologize in advance, for the pool size it has an L, does that mean it should be in liters? For examle, my pool is 12,500 gallon which equates to approx 47,400 liter, is that the amount I put in??

on the BleachCalc, click More Calcs (top left) and then settings. Then choose Imperial for US Gallons.

The Baqua devours the chlorine very rapidly at first, hence the suggestion to test and add bleach at least 3 times a day. Fewer testings and additions will get you there, but it will take longer.

Chlorine is chlorine, so you can safely switch to bleach now if you want. It will prolly be cheaper for your conversion, and won't raise levels of things you may or may not want raised later (cal or CYA).

I think the answer to the pH question is 'don't bother with it yet' just work on keeping your chlorine up.

Sorry that I sort of answered your questions from the bottom up! :rolleyes:

Thanks so much, checking the pool this AM and redosing with bleach. Pool still and interesting color. :)

I really appreciate the help here, I'm just going to keep the bleach up to 15ppm and keep going. I'll keep you informed of progress.

Just a little progress update for those who are interested in converting, so they know what to expect. Last night I started and when I put in my chlorine to 15ppm, my pool was a dark brownish green murky color. This AM, I tested and redosed, added 2.5 gallons and my pool is now a cloudy pea green soup color.

This afternoon I'll check again and redose and then again this evening, will keep you informed of my interesting colors. :)

Jaybird,

The more often you test and redose to 15 PPM the quicker your conversion will be. I did mine 3x a day, and I was finished in about 4 days. If you can test every 3 hours or so over the weekend and add bleach it will expedite it greatly. Good luck and keep us posted?

Thank you, I wish I could check more often this morning, but unfortunately I had to come into work for a bit and catch up on a few things, however when I go home today, I will definately take your advice, as I'd like for this to go as quick as possible.

You guys are so great here and very helpful. After my horrible pool store experience this is so refreshing. :)

Make sure that you're frequently checking your filter because the Baquagunk will build up on it, causing your pressure to rise.

Janet

Thanks for checking on that!! :) I am checking and backwashing my filter everytime I test, seems to be running well.

I've added 4 more gallons since I last posted, at two seperate test times. Pool still extremely pea soup and cloudy, however I couldn't see the bottom before and now I can almost make out the bottom of the pool. Hopefully that's progress in the right direction. Just trying to keep my hubby at bay. :)

Keep hammering away with bleach to 15 PPM as often as you can. Once it starts breaking and you can see the bottom, you are heading downhill from there. You will absolutely be amazed when you are done and see how clear your water can be. Good luck!

Redosed to 15ppm this AM, I'm going to have to make another bleach run.

I was a might bit discouraged this AM as I didn't see any improvement from yesterday evening and I'm still pea green cloudy colored, I'm home all day and plan on check approximately every 3 hours and trying to keep the levels up.

How many days is typical for this process??

There is no typical answer here, it depends on several things, like amount of Baquacil you are fighting, # of gallons in your pool, how many times you are dosing to 15 PPM, etc...Patience is a virtue in the conversion. I have an 18 x 36 IG pool with around 21k gallons, I had a high Baquacil level, and my conversion took about 4-5 days. I dosed 3x a day, once early morning, once when I got home from work, and once before bedtime. Hang in there, it will all be worth it in the end!

Thanks VolDaddy for the info.

I've been much more diligent today and I'm beginning to have hope. Pool looks kind of gatorade green and I can see the bottom step of the ladder and can almost make out the bottom of the pool.

The only bad thing is I live in Texas and we are in the heat of the day, just checked and my chlorine was down to 3ppm after only 3 hours, so dosing back up again.

My garbage man is going to freak when he sees all the bleach bottles. :)

That's how quickly the bleach is consumed, by both Baquacil and sunlight. Your bleach eats away at the Baquacil best when the sun is down, so if I were you i would test at least 2 more times tonight and dose to 15, and then right before bedtime. Then as soon as you get up early Am test and dose again.

I posted my conversion pics here a while back. Look on the first page for it and you can see how my pool looked, and gauge where you are at. You will have a brand new sparkling pool to enjoy and show off to family and friends next weekend!

Well, I have heart, woke this AM and put more chlorine (bleach) in, I was down to 3 ppm again. added 10 Liters of bleach, back up to 15 ppm.

The good news is that the pool looks less like bright green gatorade and more like a pale green color, I can see the bottom a little better and seems it's starting to clear a bit more. So, I must be heading in the right direction. :)

I brushed the pool yesterday, side and bottom, I'm thinking I should have vacuumed to waste as I got all kinds of scummy stuff floating around, some was white and some was orange, all of it kind of slimey looking.

Should I just brush or vacuum, should I vacuum to waste or wait for the whole process to be finished before I do that part??

Again, thanks to you guys for all your help so far, I'm really excited at having a clear pool and can't wait to get back to swimming. I do laps 3 times a week, so I'm really missing my exercise. :)

Hi "Jay":
When I did the conversation 2 years ago, I brushed, vacuumed to waste and added additional water when it was needed...I did this every day of the conversion

Your water "color chart" is/was identical to my pool water during the conversion..so you're definitely on track....

One of the past posters had a very good point though, and thats to wait till the sun goes down to blast up to 15ppm's..then repeat the same in the AM hours...it sounds as though you're losing a ton of ppm's in the Texas daylight...

Total conversion for me was 7 days....(crystal in 5 and a few extra "insurance" days of high CL levels to complete the process)

When everything is said and done with the conversion, PLEASE make sure to change out your sand (I think you said you have a sand filter)...not doing so will bring you back to square one again..

Let us know how you're doing ?? Haven't heard from you in a few days...

Thanks for check in, I'm doing great, pool is clearer than it has ever been, we changed out the sand last night, added more bleach and then stabilizer to 30ppm.

I am so happy and excited, this is what a swimming pool is supposed to look like!!

I wasn't sure about the recommended level for stabilizer and I didn't want to over stabilize. What is the recommened level.

Thanks!!!

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Originally Posted by Jaybird70

Thanks for check in, I'm doing great, pool is clearer than it has ever been, we changed out the sand last night, added more bleach and then stabilizer to 30ppm.

I am so happy and excited, this is what a swimming pool is supposed to look like!!

I wasn't sure about the recommended level for stabilizer and I didn't want to over stabilize. What is the recommened level.

Thanks!!!

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The recommended level is much debated around here--some prefer to keep theirs low and add a little bleach every night, and some prefer to keep theirs higher, running higher minimum Cl levels but adding less often. A lot depends on your pool's chlorine usage during the dayl. Try it at 30 or so, see how it works for you. If you find that Cl is being consumed too quickly, then up it a little until you get to a point you can live with.

Congrats on the pool conversion, you won't be disappointed!!

Janet

(added more bleach and then stabilizer to 30ppm.)

Be careful Jay not to bleach out your liner, 30ppm is pretty high for vinyl..

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Originally Posted by stma

(added more bleach and then stabilizer to 30ppm.)

Be careful Jay not to bleach out your liner, 30ppm is pretty high for vinyl..

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I think Jaybird meant the CYA was raised to 30 PPM, not the FC.