How to Switch from Pristine Blue to BBB

[leladavis]

Hello,

We purchased a 30ft wide, 4.5ft deep above ground pool this summer and a friend suggested we use Pristine Blue chemicals instead of chlorine. I bought Pristine Blue and used it for about a week but have read many bad reviews so I want to switch to the BBB method. What I need to know is will it hurt to start adding Bleach, Borate, & Baking Soda to my pool now if I just added the Pristine Blue chemicals yesterday? I noticed last night the bottom of the pool was starting to feel slimy so will the BBB method take care of that as well?

Thanks!

[waterbear]

What is your current copper level?

[PoolDoc]

If your pool is slimey . . . go get some liquid algaecide WITHOUT copper, and add a double dose ASAP. Otherwise, you'll end up having a green pool AND a copper problem. If at all possible, get polyquat (info page). You probably won't be able to find it, so you'll need to go with the nasty foamy regular quats . . . but you can clean up those faster than you can clean up algae!!. And, run the filter 24/7.

If you can buy polyquat, do so. If you can't, order some, since you'll need it to help with the transition from copper to chlorine . . . UNLESS

. . . Unless, you don't mind stains from the copper (can be blue, green or black). If you don't mind the stains, add 1 gallon of PLAIN 6% (ck %) bleach through the skimmer, every our till the chlorine level reaches 5 ppm.

You'll need a test kit RIGHT THE HECK NOW, and a better one later. Links and info below.

But don't mess around: make up your mind, and either add a bunch of algaecide or a bunch of chlorine. Otherwise, you're likely to end up spending the rest of the summer getting algae out of that big pool!

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+ Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)

+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.

+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page )

One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.

+ Here are links to the kits we recommend (you can check local availability on the HTH kit, using the Walmart link):

HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon