Conversion in Spring?

[thebumble]

Hi All! I'm new to this forum and there has been some great advice given!

I have a 18' x 48' Intex Metal Frame Above Ground Pool. We plan on leaving it up this winter, and draining 1/2 the water out before covering.

We are currently using Baquacil (1st year - new pool) and it's ok. It's just a bit cloudy and VERY expensive.

I would like to make the conversion to Chlorine, but from all the waiting and hassle, I think i'll wait until we open the pool in the spring. Will it be easier to do it this way? I would think the Baquacil levels will be alot lower after sitting all winter and refilling 1/2 the pool.

Any suggestions on how to convert during a start-up? I.E. Should I do the BBB method? Also, we have the upgraded 2,500 gallon pump.

Any advice is appreciated!

Thank you!

[b2001]

If you're not having that serious of problems and you can handle the expense for the remainder of this season - then converting next year at startup is probably a good idea.

No doubt in getting your baquacil levels as low as practical results in less mess and a quicker time to convert. I have a cartridge filter - there was a lot of effort in cleaning it - bacquacrap - several times a day as I went through conversion. I think this is a big part of making the conversion easier - lowering the bacquacil level, other than that I'm not sure anything else matters as far as ease of conversion. I converted to start this spring. I assumed that my bacquacil level would have gone down over the winter, I was dismayed to discover that it was at the max - 50 ppm. I partially drained to get my level lower.

To give you an idea on my conversion - 18' x 36' ag pool - 14,000 gallons - bacquacil level at conversion about 15 ppm - used about 40 gallons of bleach for conversion - about 5 or so days to convert ...

I'm currently putting in about 1 1/2 to 2 bottles of bleach a day - I hope to raise my cya to reduce that at some point. Anyway, you can do the math on cost versus bacquacil and bacquacil shock. Is cost for the remainder of the season an issue? It doesn't sound like it.

You're going to have to replace the sand or cartridge filter after conversion - don't know about de filters, I assume something similar. Regardless of when you convert, that is still an issue.

I hope that's enough info to help you decide.

As far as how to convert during startup - my opinion:

Get your bacquacil level as low as possible - get your water level back up after winter and the pump and filter going - vacuum and clean as much crap off of the bottom of the pool as you can - start putting bleach in and raise to and keep at shock level until you can maintain chlorine levels overnight for a couple of nights - keep the filter system constantly cleaned ...

I was slow with the vacuuming and cleaning step - the algae will start growing fast ...

Useful information:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1113
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=3576
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=4658

[thebumble]

Thanks for the great advice! I'll keep using the Bacquacil for the remainder of the summer, drain half the pool in winter, and convert in spring!

[gonefishin]

Hi b2001,

You mention the conversion was 5 days or so...was your pool stabilized and were you able to swim at this point too?


That doesn't seem to bad of a conversion time, if your experiencing the baquacil problems.

What's your CYA right now?


happy swimmin',
dan

[CarlD]

I have a 18' x 48' Intex Metal Frame Above Ground Pool. We plan on leaving it up this winter, and draining 1/2 the water out before covering.

Make it easy on yourself! Here's an idea: Rather than go this route, use Poconos's Plastic Sheet method to empty ALL your bacqua-goo water at the end of the season, so that all that winters is FRESH water. Then, come spring-time when you open your pool, you just have to deal with the normal winter stuff, not bacquacil converting. Clean out your hoses and filter, and get a new cart for the spring.

[larry b]

I too am converting in spring (living in milwaukee wis) been on baq for 4years now, not to bad but lots of $$$$$ as far as cloudy keep your baq at 30-50 and you might have to double shock it 4 gals a month not 2 also use the floc through your skimmer, 4-8caps every other day ( for only 2 days should trap particiles in your filter) have a 28ft above ground,sand filter, also dont ever use clairifer as it will deplete your baq and then u now what more $$$$$$, keep your pool clean vac bottom brush sides, when u go under water can u see the other side, mine is visible but not like bath water its those particles in the water that make it cloudy, from the top of the deck looking down it l looks very clear but?? u know keep up on the upkeep and u will make it when closing come in late sept, Im not going to and any chemicals,put the cover on and open in early may and go from there as my baq level should be at 0 hope things works out!!!

[b2001]

gonefishing:

Here's the blow by blow account:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=895

The prep work I mentioned above falls outside the 5 days or so I mentioned - it took about 4 days when I first started pouring in chlorine to clear up and an extra day for the chlorine to hold overnight - I then started swimming at this point ...

The prep work took a while longer - part of that was I decided to drain my vinyl pool - I went down to 16 inches above the bottom in the shallow end. This is really not recommended, but I did it anyway. I went real slow with a sump pump and garden hose - it took a couple of days - and I constantly monitored the liner for wrinkles, etc. I then refilled immediately after getting to the low point. This entire process, including getting as much of the leaves and crap from bottom, took a few days - longer than the actual conversion process itself. My bacquacil level went from 50 ppm to 15 ppm - I'm sure that had a big effect on my conversion time. I constatnly cleaned the crap out of my cartridage filter and I also used a skimmer sock which had to be constatnly monitored and cleaned.

I know it was at least a week, if not longer from when I pulled my winter cover off until I started pouring in chlorine. I was hesitant to draining the pool, as well as starting the conversion process - I'm sure this cost me some time.

I've added a 3 pound bottle and half of a 4 pound bottle of cya so far - I'm having trouble measuring it - I'm calculating a cya level of between 40 and 50. I'm still working on this process ...

[pulmom7]

Hello dear pool friends!
I have been reading this forum all summer, and realllllllllly thinking about conversion. Our pool was Softswim for about 6 years, got tired of always needing something and having to drive out of town to get it! Then, we switched to the Sun non-chloine products. Last summer I switched to Baquacil and basically did it all on my own with no testing at the pool store. It was good...clear, except for the standard haze I get every end of season.

This year has been awful. Starting having water tested again and of course, I needed..something...everytime. Unfortunately, or not...I combined the Sun non chlorine products and Baq this summer...thinking they were non-chlorine, so what did it matter? Had hazy water all summer, testing strips show perfect scores each time. We had a horrible storm last night, had added clarifier before bed...and this morning it is pea green! Never been like that before.

I am sure I created my own pea green water, but I am finally ready to convert. No telling how much $$$$ we have spent over the last 12 years!

Question now(sorry, thought you all needed background).....do you think the water will clear? I would think that coverting in the spring would make alot more sense. We will be done with the pool in about 4-6 weeks and I want to stretch out the time as long as possible, but is the water safe to swim in while green? Ugghhhhh, my husband is ready to take the pool down!

Suggestions???Much appreciated!

[Watermom]

Will it clear with a bleach conversion? Absolutely. Go ahead and do it. I wouldn't swim in a green pool! YUCK!! If you're swim season is still 4-6 weeks and it takes maybe a week to convert, then you still have plenty of swim season left to enjoy a clear, sparkling pool. Go ahead and do it!