aciam - Nightmare conversion from baquacil to chlorine

[aciam]

Hi pool forum -
I have a 10,000 gal above ground pool with vinyl liner that has used baqaucil since it was built approximately 9-10 years ago. the last few years I have battled haze, at first only at the end of the season, then throughout the season, and last year had a pink algae bloom that was ferocious. I had had enough and decided to convert upon opening this season.

We started the conversion on sat may 29th based on pool store recommendations - but I wasnt happy with the lack of info and explanation they gave me so I researched it on my own and came across your website, which has helped me tremendously. I have been pouring over the site for the last week looking for help and have found lots of information with respect to converting my pool. I ordered the Taylor kit 2006 ( FAS-DPD) ( and had it overnighted to me) and have been using it since wed june 1. The color has slowly changed from a bad green to a very light almost blue green but it is not perfect yet. We never got the thick goo people talked about but did do a lot of vacuuming. Brought pool samples to several stores and laughed at how differently they interpreted the water -so I feel as though I am on my own with this, and I know things aren't quite right.

I don't want to transition to tabs until I am sure the conversion is complete after reading all of your advice but am stuck now and need help. we are on day 10 and the pool still looks a tinge green and the cc levels are through the roof! I feel like I have gone backwards - but am afraid to add too much shock without permission lest I ruin something (like the liner).

so, when we started we were only adding one gallon of shock a day per the pool store recommendations. We did that on sat may 29 thru tues may 31 and then starting on wed my pool testing kit arrived so I can give you more specific numbers.

back on wed I added 1 gal 12.5% shock at 630 am and the FC was 4.4; CC=1.2; since I was told to only put in one gallon a day, I didnt do anymore ( big mistake)

on thurs 6/2 at 10am FC=1.0; cc=.4 ; ph 7.4; alk 80 added 1 gallon 12.5% shock then tested at 2pm FC was 2.7 and CC was 0.8 so added another gallon of shock (12.5%) ( after having read your site i wised up to the process); tested again at 4pm and FC was 7.4; CC was 6! started getting worried but added another gallon 12.5% shock anyways.

fri 6/3 - at 8am FC was 10.5 and CC 3 no bleach added; 3pm FC 5.5 and CC 1.0 - thought I was making progress so added 2 gallons of 12.5% bleach ( ie shock) to try to move things along.

sat 6/4 11 am FC 11.5 and CC 6.5! ph 7.6 alk 90 ( I repeated these numbers as well using 10ml and 25ml volumes just to check myself.) no bleach added; the pool was still very cloudy so I added 2oz of a 4 in 1 clarifier; 4pm FC 9 and CC 2.5 - added 1 gallon 12.5% bleach. then at 9 pm FC was 11 but CC was 8.0!!!! I was starting to get discouraged - but added a gallon of the bleach 12.5% and went to bed.

sun 6/5 9am FC 12 and CC was 14!!! I added nothing because I was afraid the total chlorine was too high. retested at 130pm fc was 11 and CC was 8.5 - added nothing - retested at 9pm and FC was 9.5 and CC was 5 - added 1 gallon 12.5% bleach and went to bed very confused.

this morning the pool looks a bit more blue and is crystal clear but still a green hue ( we did change the sand yesterday for time reasons with the upcoming week very busy)
FC 11.5 and CC 12.

I haven't added anything today and was waiting for advice before i retested or added more bleach. I have read a lot about chloramine and the CC and I just am not sure what to do now to get it to go down -- I think I might have created more by not being aggressive enough with the shock. the pool is looking better but the testing is not moving in the right direction. Could it be an error? How high can the total chlorine go? what should my next step be?
Thank you so much for you help. aciam

[aylad]

You need to be a little more aggressive with the chlorine--looks like you're adding enough to start killing the old Baq off, but not enough to get ahead of it. With zero stabilizer in the water, you need to add enough chlorine to get to 12-15 ppm and do your best to hold it there as consistently as possible. If you can test/add additional chlorine 2-3 or more times daily, that's even better. If you can hold it at that "shock" level, you will win the battle--you just need to bump it up a little. Also, no more clarifiers or anything else except chlorine. Everything extra that you add is adding to your chlorine demand, and you already are barely keeping enough in the pool for the Baq. So..nothing else extra.

In a 10K gallon pool, one gallon of 12.5% chlorine raises your chlorine to 12.5 ppm--IF your chlorine is still full strength, which it may or may not be. Add your chlorine, give it 30-40 minutes to circulate, and retest--and bump it up if you need to til you're between the 12-15 ppm mark--then test and re-add as often as you can. It'll work!!

Janet

[aciam]

Thanks Janet - do you mean keep FC 12-15ppm and not worry so much about the total chlorine level ( the FC added to my CC level)? because those seem kind of high lately. will i bleach out my liner or is that not true? I am surprised by how high my cc levels were getting - and it is now day 10 of the conversion. What does that mean? I remember reading somewhere on the forum that you can raise cc levels by inadequate shocking. Am i making it all worse by adding too little? Thanks. aciam

[Watermom]

Janet has given you good advice. While you are converting, your high chlorine levels won't last for long. They will quickly drop as part of the conversion process. The more consistently you maintain the chlorine levels between 12-15, the faster your conversion will go. As many times a day as you can test and add enough bleach to get back to 12-15, do it. No such thing as doing it too often. Keep us posted how things are going!

[aciam]

I was hoping to get some more advice about how to proceed at this point. so, I added no bleach all day yesterday - the morning readings were 11.5 FC and 12 for CC ( yikes) - after reading your advice I retested at 7pm and the FC was 9 and the CC 4.5. I then added 1/2 gallong bleach (12.5%) and retested at 830pm - the FC was only up to 10 and the CC was approximately 9!!! I ran out of the titrating reagent for my kit at this point.

I figured all the bleach I added pretty much got combined with that high of a reading. So, I decided to add 1 more gallon of bleach for overnight work in a desperate attempt to kill off the combined chlorine. Not sure if that was correct.

I decided to head to the pool store this am to get the water tested since I couldnt do it here and realized that they cant test above 5ppm with their in store test! The guy made me feel really badly about having so much chlorine in the pool - he said he had never seen the color turn so deep pink/red and guesstimated a free chlorine of 7 and total chlorine of 9. I bought some test strips that check total and free chlorine myself just as a way to get through today without my testing kit up and running - they test up to 10ppm - and both pads hit that mark ( for FC and TC). Problem is I don't know where I am in terms of my CC and what to do today in terms of adding bleach now.

The pool store guy made me feel so badly I practically ran out of the store. He suggested non chlorine oxidizer - and told me that if I put clothes in the pool right now they would bleach out immediately. I'm hoping you guys can make me feel better about what I am doing because I feel like things are getting worse in terms of my CC instead of better. I am now on day 11 of this process. The pool looks really great today - clear and blue and of course the weather is supposed to be in the high 90's the next several days - and my kids are dying to swim.

so, here are my questions. Why does the CC keep climbing so incredibly high? the sand is changed and clean and has no residual baquacil in it and my baquacil readings on day 6 were 0.

Is it the free chlorine I am supposed to keep at 12-15? what about the total being so high?

I noticed my chlorine is maintaining itself throughout the day despite sun ( yesterdays readings of 11.5 in the am to 9 in pm with no added bleach) doesn't that seem like a good thing? like I am ready to let it drop to levels we can swim in? ( my kids so want to swim)

what do I do today since I have no good way to test for CC?


Thanks so much. aciam

[CarlD]

Either of 2 things is going on: You still have a lot of conversion yet to do, or you are running the test incorrectly.

Meantime, order more of the reagents on-line. If somehow, by a miracle the pool store guy is right and your FC was 7 and TC was 9, that means your CC was 2. Remember TC = FC + CC. Always.

Plus the test strips' TC block is never very accurate. the FC block is better. You can dilute a sample of pool water with steam distilled water 1:1 and then use the strip. If it reads "10" your FC is 20, or double. Again your TC is probably not going to make sense. But if you remember that TC MUST be greater than or equal to FC, you'll realize the TC test on the strips isn't very good.

I "cheat" and use strips to get a quick idea of my water, but I've been using the FAS-DPD tests for SO many years, as well as the OTO tests, that I can easily verify with the FAS-DPD test that the FC pad on the strip is reasonably accurate, but the TC pad is garbage.

Now remember that you must keep your FC level at the recommended shocking level (based on your stabilizer level) until your pool is COMPLETELY clear and you get no CC reading (at least not higher than 0.5ppm). Then you can back off your chlorine levels, adjust your other readings, and replace the now-gooped-up sand in your filter.

All the best,

Carl

[aciam]

I know the pool guy was just guessing because his test didn't go higher than 5ppm. I think my test strip pad is more accurate and that the FC is probably 10 or a bit higher. But I have no idea what my CC is. Oh and the sand was changed 2 days ago which is why I am so confused as to why the CC is still so high - there is no residual baquacil to react with. I also have no stabilizer in yet as per the conversion instructions - waiting to get things set straight before I do that. I'm pretty sure I am doing the test correctly. But in all my reading I have never seen CC levels as high as mine which is worrisome to me. would love some reassurance.

so I guess today I will just try to keep the FC up at 12-15 by my pad tests - the new reagents were already ordered and should be here tomorrow and then I can regroup.

Any answers to my other questions from the previous post? Thanks! aciam

[aylad]

so, here are my questions. Why does the CC keep climbing so incredibly high? the sand is changed and clean and has no residual baquacil in it and my baquacil readings on day 6 were 0.

Is it the free chlorine I am supposed to keep at 12-15? what about the total being so high?

The CC is climbing high because the chlorine is still trying to kill off something in the water, probably leftover residual from the Baq and other Baq products. If you changed the sand before all the Baq goo was gone, then you probably do still have some in the filter and will need to change the sand again, once it's all gone. We normally recommend that you get to the point of no CC and holding chlorine overnight before sand changes, and that is why.

Yes, the FC needs to be 12-15 ppm in order to kill off whatever is causing your CC. If you keep the chlorine up, the CC will eventually come down and the gunk is removed from your pool. Sometimes it just takes a lot of patience, persistence, and being very diligent about keeping the chlorine high.

Janet

[aciam]

OK guys - I just got my new titrating reagent today and I am getting some scary numbers on the test. After adding bleach, my CC has climbed to 25 with a FC of 15. It has been 2 weeks since I started the conversion - I had much lower levels of CC the first week. the pool is crystal clear but my hands hurt after getting a water sample! What am I doing wrong?

[Watermom]

Try that test again. I'm pretty sure those numbers can't be right.