Weekend Baquacil Conversion

[b2001]

Keep the faith and understand the process.....You are burning Cl at a rapid rate and you must keep it up there or you languish.....and get no progress.

Yes, I keep asking questions to better understand the process and to get a boost from you in keeping the faith. I put in 4 gallons right after I posted above and I just got back from buying a bunch more.

First, after looking at the water considerably after posting above, I do notice that it has gotten clearer and the green does seem to be turning to an aqua green-blue. Maybe I am starting to turn the corner. It's been hard keeping the faith without seeing any results. However, I did notice some light brown algae starting to form on the skimmer on the inside of the pool.

To better understand the process, is it existing organic matter and remaining baquacil in the pool that is rapdily burning up the chlorine at night? The ability to hold the chlorine at shock level overnight would mean that all available "stuff" to burn the chlorine has been exhausted? I know from comments in here that would mean I'm past conversion. At that point, I try to maintain chlorine at 5 ppm, and start adding granular cya?

I've always had problems after heavy rains, being under trees. I would need to consider shocking with chlorine after rains?

How often will I probably need to add bleach - rule of thumb - to maintain the normal chlorine conditions once I am past conversion assuming normal ph, ta, ch, and cya?

Sorry for all of the questions - I'm trying to think ahead - I'm still mentally in baquacil mode.

[duraleigh]

b,

To better understand the process, is it existing organic matter and remaining baquacil in the pool that is rapdily burning up the chlorine at night?

Bingo!

The ability to hold the chlorine at shock level overnight would mean that all available "stuff" to burn the chlorine has been exhausted? I know from comments in here that would mean I'm past conversion. At that point, I try to maintain chlorine at 5 ppm, and start adding granular cya?

Bingo, Again...except for the 5ppm level. Search the forum for Ben's "Best Guess" table to better understand the Cl - CYA relationship.

The other answers vary quite a bit, but, believe me, they will be a piece of cake (and inexpensive) compared to what you're doing now.

If I haven't mentioned it, keep your CL level up!!!

[b2001]

Success at last!

The pool looked pretty good this morning and it looked perfectly clear this evening. The bottom has not been this clear in a long time!

I checked the fc this morning - it was greater than 5 ppm, it was greater than 5 ppm again cut 50/50 with distilled water, and was at 5 ppm again cut 33/66 with distilled water. This would indicate to me fc was at 15 ppm. The only confusion that I have is the kit I have from Leslie's is a DPD and not a DPD-FAS, I assumed that at least the first test would bleach out to clear at that level of fc? Otherwise, it appears that my fc held overnight ...

Of course, this evening when I got home from work the fc was 0.

I was planning on shocking it at night for at least two more nights, and I did at dusk tonight - at least this afternoon the filter was still orange-brown after a few hours, I'd like to get as much of that goop out as possible.

I vaccummed the pool bottom real well this evening, so I feel I'm eliminating much of the organic matter to deplete the chlorine at night. It appears its going to rain tonight, so I'll be real interested in seeing what tomorrow brings. I'm most optimistic compared to my past baquacil experiences.

Should I start the cya process? Leslie's had a bucket of cya powder for $30. Is there a better deal somewhere else? How much should I buy and how much should I put in. I've read to stuff it in an old sock, and that it will take a while to dissolve and register.

I can't thank you all that responded enough - I'm pretty pumped right now about the condition of my pool. I feel like I have a fighting chance this summer.

"Baquacil has now left the building ..."

[Watermom]

Great to hear your pool is clearing. After it looking so green during the conversion, it is hard to believe it will turn clear again, isn't it?

I would wait a few more days before adding cya. The container will tell you how much to add per volume to get to a desired level. I would initially shoot for 25-30. You can always add more later if you need to, but if you add too much now, the only way to lower it is to do a partial drain. Can't comment on the price from Leslie's - especially not knowing how big the bucket is. I don't remember how much I paid for my cya a month ago. Maybe somebody who recently bought it can comment on that question for you. You can put it in an old sock, but what I do is just dump it in the skimmer and let it dissolve in the filter. Your choice. Both ways are fine. The container may say to broadcast it across the pool, but don't do that because it will just lay on the pool floor for days waiting to dissolve.

Yes to shocking a couple more days. Then, after your conversion is done, you'll need to change your sand.

You're in the home stretch now! Glad we could help. You will not be sorry that you switched to chlorine from 'baquagoop!'

[Guppy]

My pool was the same size w/ vinyl liner at my conversion four years ago as your pool. During conversion I used no algicide or CYA, just 4 gallons of 10% pool bleach per night for four nights. I let the pump on throughout. I'm not 100% positive, but I think your not shocking your pool with enough chlorine. I did not see any fading with my liner at that high level of chlorine, but yours may be different. Since conversion, this site (Ben) has saved me hundreds of dollars in pool chemicals. My pool has been crystal clear following Ben's protocol.

Guppy

[bcb1]

You're not going to ruin your liner (unless you use waaaaay to much chlrorine, like in the 20ppm++ range).

We converted to chlorine from Baquacil in 2004. I had just found this message board at that time. There really is no perfect science when converting to chlorine. It was way easier than I thought it would be. I thought we might end up with a yellowish/green mess for an entire summer. I was pleasantly surprised that the entire conversion only took about 3 days, and it was very easy.

Friday night: We dumped in about 6 or 7 large cups (like the old laundry scoops you used to get with big boxes of laundry detergent) - of Cal Hypo shock. Immediately, the pool turned a weird looking yellowish color. Then we put about 5 tablets of Trichlor pucks in the skimmer basket and we put 5 pounds of CYA (stabilizer) in a ladies nylon hose and tied it to the inground ladder. Stabilizer dissolves very slowly, over the course of several days.

Saturday: Dumped another several scoops of cal hypo shock in the pool during the afternoon. Backwashed the filter once in the morning and again later in the evening. The water was already starting to turn more of a light greenish color - I'd call it a "clear green". Saturday afternoon we dumped the sand in the filter and replaced it with new sand, which took a couple hours.

Sunday: Surprise! The water was virtually clear! I couldn't believe it cleared up so fast. I backwashed the filter again, and added a couple more scoops of Cal Hypo shock.

So for us....in about 48 hours, our water was nearly perfect. I realize that for other folks it has taken several days longer...so I'm not sure why ours went so easy.

That was back in July 2004.....so here is an update:

Spring 2005: Opened the pool to a yucky brown color. We had installed a sewer line and a sidewalk near the pool, and evidently all the dust and dirt in the air settled on our mesh cover...and filtered down into our pool water. Yuck. But, it only took about 5 days, a few pounds of shock, and quite a few gallons of bleach, and a quart of polyquat algaecide to completely clear up. The rest of the year was very easy - we always had 100% clear water, no algae or other problems.

Spring 2006: This year, our water was completely clear when we opened the pool last weekend. No construction during the fall or spring months, so therefore there was no dirt or dust in the air to get into the pool.

Overall....chlorine is ten times better than our experience with Baquagunk. And it's cheap too! I spend ~maybe~ $150 in chemicals for an entire year. That includes a couple quarts of polyquat algaecide, about 30-40 jugs of 6% bleach, and a bucket of trichlor pucks.

Good luck with your conversion...and don't be scared! It's not as bad as you think.