New - Need your help w/my baquacil to chlorine conversion

[dacslow]

Hello all - I was so excited when I found this site yesterday. This is the 4th season for our pool. We've been on Baquacil since day one. The first 2 years our pool was just fine - no problems at all w/Baquacil. Last year we battled algae and finally gave up. Our pool goes from one shade of green to another and we've tried everything recommended by Baquacil. We're finally waving the white flag and want to convert to chlorine but I don't know where to start. I read here that I need to start dumping in a lot of unscented chlorine - where do I find it? I tried to order the drop kit you've all recommended on this site but it's not available until the end of May and we want to get going on this now. Should I buy a test kit at a local pool store? Should I mix chlorine in a bucket of my pool water and see how it reacts? Where do I start?

Our pool is in-ground, pebble tec surface and about 13k gallons.

Thanks so much

[fullhouse]

hi, we just switched over to this bbb method. it will take a lot of chlorine(bleach) to get rid of all the baquacil. any laundry use unscented bleach will do like the generic from walmart. you should buy a cheap test kit from a local store until you are able to get a good one because you need to be able to check on your chlorine level at least twice a day while you are converting and keep your pool at shock level.the more you are able to check on it and keep the chlorine high the sooner the process should be over. i would not mix pool water and chlorine in a bucket, i would just pour chlorine in pool.

[VOLDADDY]

Cindy,

My first suggestion is to BUY A LOT OF BLEACH!!! I used around 75 bottles to do my conversion and there is NO WAY I would ever go back to Baquacil. I was like you, the first 2 years were fine. Then algae. I could not get rid of it. I spent anywhere from $200-$300/month buying canitizer, pink treat, shock, etc...and still had a pool full of algae. Plus, my water had a funny smell. Look at the pictures I posted in a thread below so you will know what you are in for. You need to go ahead and order Ben's kit, even if it takes several weeks to get it. You can use a kit from Wal-Mart until it arrives. You need to test your bleach 3x a day in the beginning. I did morning, when I got home from work, and before bed. I kept my chlorine to 15 ppm. There are a lot of detailed instructions on how to proceed, just go stock up on generic unscented bleach. You will be so very thankful in about 2 weeks and will never go back to Baquacil again. You also need to download the bleach calc that Michael has put on here. It will help you determine just the right amounts of bleach and other chemicals to use. Good Luck! Keep us posted.

[dacslow]

OK, we've bought out Walmart of unscented bleach and have a cheapie test kit. How much blech do we put in the first time? Do we just dump it in where the water lines into the pool are so the bleach will get distributed quickly? I'm really nervous about this but the pool can't get any greener than it is right now. Again, thanks for your help!

[Poconos]

Three gallons of 6% bleach should take you to about 14 ppm on your 13,000 gal pool. Will probably be eaten up fast so check after a few hours and add as necessary. And yes, just dump it in the skimmer. With water circulating the concentrated stuff isn't in the equipment long enough to do any damage at all. There is a calculator from mwsmith2 that you can download. Do a search for any of his posts....the link to the calculator is in his signature. Simply...1 gallon of 6% in 10,000 gal raises the chlorine level 6 PPM.
Al

[dacslow]

Again - thank you thank you thank you so much for everyone's help! Now I have to admit to being really stupid. I thought my husband bought unscented bleach - he thought "regular" bleach meant no scent. Well, we all know regular bleach isnt unscented and I can't find it anywhere locally. I've checked my local grocery stores, Walmart and Target - any suggestions? Would a pool store carry it? Home Depot or Lowes???? Thanks again so much!!!!!

[Watermom]

Bleach does have a smell, but that is not what we mean when we say unscented. We mean no floral scent or fresh ocean breeze scent, or cherry-flavored or whatever. Regular bleach scent is fine.

[dacslow]

After I thought about it for a while, I came to that same conclusion. Give me a big DUH!!!! Thanks again!!!

[dacslow]

ok - here's an update. Saturday morning my pool was Army green. I poured in 4 bottles of 6% and the pool immediately turned popcicle green. Sunday added 3 more bottles of 6% and pool gradually because a much lighter green, almos murky white. Flushed the filters that were just full of green algae. Monday added 2 bottles in the a.m. - Tested the water and we were at 2 ppm. Added 2 more Monday evening - the water is now a very pretty lite turquoise/white. Tested this morning and from the cheapie tester I have - looks like CL is 5 ppm. For kicks I checked the ph and it's at about 7, which is good because I fought a very high ph last year because of all the algae. I can now see my top step in the shallow end and the water is clear about 2 inches below the tile. I can make out the shelf in the deep end - it's about 2 ft down, so we're definately making progress. It's hard to know how much CL to put in the pool because my tester only goes up to 5ppm. Guess I need to buy another one now that I have a little more knowledge, but would really like to wait to get the one you all talk about here. Problem is it's not available until the end of this month and I would like to get this fixed by this weekend. Any thoughts? Should I call a pool maintanence guy and have them take over? Thanks again!

[prh129]

It sounds like you're on the right track - if you read the other posts here, the key is just sticking with it until the end. There is a method you can use to get a better estimate of your chlorine level for now with your test kit - use a small amount (Carl recommends a shotglass) of pool water and add the same amount of distilled water then test. Multiply your result by 2 to get your Cl level. If you still max out at 5, you can go to two shots of distilled water and one shot of pool water then multiply your result times 3. It's not the most accurate measurement but should get you close enough to get you by until you get your test kit.

Hang in there!

Peter