Steps - Switching from Baquacil to Chlorine

[GeneNTN]

First – Many thanks for your response Watermom!
The following 2 entries comprise my latest post to the PoolForum.

Sunday ~1:45 p.m. , May 29, 2011 (Day 4)

I can actually see the deep end of the pool – with lots of dead matter (I assume) laying on the bottom all over the pool! Water tests were as follows:

FC = 0.2 – 0.5 ppm (way down from just 4 hrs ago!)
CC 1.5 ppm
pH = 7.2
Pump pressure ~ 19lbs (after back flushing)

I DID NOT add the 4.3 gal. of chlorine (bleach 6%) earlier today – our local WalMart was out of stock (and it was time for church)!

The FC is really a lot lower then just ~4 hrs ago! I tried both 10ml & 25ml water sample for the chlorine testing, with only a slight difference in the nos. (which I would guess is to be expected).

By not adding the additional chlorine (bleach 6%) earlier today the overall conversion process has probably once again been delayed – bummer! Plans are to now add 7.1 gal. of chlorine (bleach 6%) in order to make-up for some lost time & the low FC level!
Sunday ~ 7 p.m. , May 29, 2011 (Day 4)

Our pool water is clear with a bluish tint (liner, sky, etc.), and you can see the main drain in the deep end. However, there is a lot of foreign matter on the bottom of the pool – and the water it’s self has a chlorine and/or bleach smell.

Water temp = 75 deg.
FC = 7.5 ppm
CC = 1.5 ppm (5 x 1.5 = 7.5, OK)
pH = 7.2

Two things come to mind, 1) I really messed up by not adding the chlorine (bleach 6%) this morning (like I said I was going to do!), and 2) with the much warmer & sunnier days, I should have been adding stabilizer 90% / conditioner to the pool water – the sun / UV is just killing the FC! So…I’ll retest in the a.m. (Monday), and go from there! Have a Great Memorial Day - and enjoy your USA Freedom!

Gene
PS – Does anyone have a recommendation as to a ‘brand name to buy’ for the stabilizer 90% / conditioner (cyanaric or isocyanuric acid)? Which may only be available from pool store? I should have ordered this product when I ordered the test kit (date wise)!

[Watermom]

If you can, I'd wait a bit to add the CYA. Maybe you don't work tomorrow since it is Memorial Day and will have time to test it and add bleach every couple of hours? The more often you do it, the faster you'll get the conversion over with. I would also suggest taking the FC a little higher. Since the high cl reading isn't going to stick around long, it isn't going to be a concern about hurting your liner. Go ahead and take it on up to about 10. A couple hours later when you test, take it back up to 10, repeat, repeat, repeat. We have had people in the past who have gotten through their conversion quickly because of how often they added bleach.

We usually suggest getting a pool cleared up before adding CYA. As far as what brand to buy, I doubt it matters. As long as you buy cyanuric (or isocyanuric) acid, it will be fine.

[GeneNTN]

Watermom,
“Thank you” for your response with regard to the CC odor, as well as the time frame as to when I should be concerned with the CYA level. The settled debris is too fine to scoop out, maybe spring pollen or just plain old dirt from over the past winter / spring months? Additionally, I’m working on increasing / keeping the FC level much higher (~10) then it has been recently. Missing the chlorine dosage yesterday morning did not help matters!

As of this a.m. our pool looks cleaner, including the deep end, except for the all of the debris settled on the bottom. The water sample had a slight odor / smell, and the early test results are as follows:

Water temp = 74 deg.
FC = 5.0 ppm
CC = 1.5 ppm
pH = 7.2

With the FC dropping over night by 2.5 ppm, and the ratio <5 when compared to CC, I added another 4.34 gal. of chlorine (bleach 6%). My plans today are to re-check the chlorine levels ever 2-3 hrs.

“Thank you” (and everyone) for taking your time to read and to share your experience!
Gene

[Watermom]

Hopefully with testing/shocking every couple of hours, you'll make a lot of progress today. Typically, I think, when people stay on top of their conversion with frequent monitoring and additions of bleach, most people finish the process in a week or less.

[CarlD]

Take Heart! Conversion is a slow and messy with spectacularly ugly water along the way!

But keep up the valiant fight and you will prevail! POP (Pool Owner Persistence) and Chlorine will do it.

Carl

[GeneNTN]

Watermom, Carl and all others,

Once again “many thanks” for your response & guidance – it has helped tremendously with the conversion process! The following provides a re-cap of yesterday’s, and the over night test results from this a.m. (I hope they are ‘not scrambled’ due to end-of-line, tabulation, or other space / character wrapping?).

Summary of our tests results, chlorine added, etc., completed on Monday May 30, 2011 (Day 5) through Tuesday May 31st – starting at 6:00 a.m. (5/30 6 a.m. results posted prior).

Reading 6:00 8:10 10:10 12:15 2:15 4:30 6:45 8:30 p.m. 3/31 6:00 a.m.
Water Temp 70 75 76 77 78 78 79 78 76
CF (ppm) 5.0 14.5 6.0 9.0 7.5 10.0 11.0 11.0 13.0
CC (ppm) 1.5 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75
pH 7.2 7.8 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.4+ 7.4 7.4+
Chlor. Add 7.1 - 4.3 4.3 2.9 2.9 - - -
(bleach 6%, in gallons)

A rather busy pool day overall – but the results look promising (at least to me!). In addition to the above tests, in between each sample I would typically brush the pool sides & bottom, clean the skimmer basket sock (which really helped to clean up a lot of the floating debris), and back flush / rinse the filter (2X) – dropping the pressure from ~ 25lbs down to ~19lbs.

The overall appearance and the water clarity has continued to improve, along with having the skimmer basket sock in place – clearly seeing the main floor drain. I also noticed that the pH tends to increase along with higher levels of FC level? And, it is pretty amazing just how much reaction the direct sun / UV rays has on the FC level – now I better realize why the Baquacil never had a fighting chance, especially with 5+ year old water! I’m so glad we are making the conversion to chlorine!

So…‘where are we in the conversion process’ – my guess is that it is either complete or very close? The fact that the CC never went completely to zero (0) is a little concerning – but may be in the manor as to ‘how full or level’ the R0870 dipper is for the prior FC testing? The CC = 0.75 ppm reading represents 1 drop of R0871 – and there is still a very, very slight amount of pink color in the sample. My guess is that I need to read the Taylor handbook as to how to measure CC (separate from FC) using a 25ml water sample!

As always many "many Thanks” for your time to read and to respond to my posting on the PoolForum!
Gene
PS - My near term plan is to keep the FC level elevated until I receive some feedback from the PoolForum.

[GeneNTN]

To everyone,
The following may be easier to read - sorry for the repeat!

Reading 6:00 8:10 10:10 12:15 2:15 4:30 6:45 8:30 p.m. 3/31 6:00 a.m.
Water Temp 70 75 76 77 78 78 79 78 76
CF (ppm) 5.0 14.5 6.0 9.0 7.5 10.0 11.0 11.0 13.0
CC (ppm) 1.5 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75
pH 7.2 7.8 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.4+ 7.4 7.4+
Chlor. Added 7.1 - 4.3 4.3 2.9 2.9 - - -
(bleach 6%, in gallons)


Gene

before shocking


before shocking


just after shocking


day 2


day 3