Frustrated Baquacil Customer

[Jaybird70]

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.

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.

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.

[Jaybird70]

Just realized I forgot to give my info:

32x16 oval above ground
11,500 gallons
Sand Filter

[Jaybird70]

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

[CarlD]

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.

[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.

[CarlD]

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.

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.