Weekend Baquacil Conversion

[SLS]

If your Baq level is 0 to 15 your ready to start. You can start with it higher but it will just take longer and be more messy.

Just make sure you don't take your chlorine levels too high or you risk fading your liner. When you put the bleach in make sure you get it as far from the edge as possible and as close to the water as possible to keep it from splashing up.

You may or may not get "clumps" on the bottom. I never did. It did go through some wild colors before it was through. My neighbors were quite concern ... ha.

Since I had never had a pool or used chlorine before I was extremely nervous before I got started in the conversion too. Five days later it was as clear as I had ever remember seeing it.

You will need to keep a close watch on your filter because it will gum up pretty quickly the first couple of days. I was having to backwash my sand filter 2 or 3 times a day.

You will not regret switching to chlorine . Using the methods on this site you will be able to run your pool very cheap with little or no water problems.

I advise you to order the kit that Ben sells here so you can take charge of your pool. The price is nothing compare to what it will save you from not using Baq.

Good luck!!

[b2001]

Thanks for the response, I'm needing a little encouragement to get started. I just got back from getting the bleach, and test kits. I'm going to use these kits to get by - I waited too late to order and wanted them today - and get one from Ben next year.

I'm going use use the bleach calculator and start slow with putting the bleach in the pool, and build up.

[mwsmith2]

Don't start slow. Aim to hit 15 ppm. Keep it there until you can hold that overnight. Starting slow...well, just makes it take longer.

Michael

[b2001]

OK, I can use your bleach calculator to figure how much to add - how do I measure to keep it there? Seems like I'm reading that I can only measure to 5 ppm with the kits?

Or will it go down so quickly that it will be in the 1 to 5 ppm range so that I know how much to add?

BTW, I have no cya stabilizer - do I need to wait until I go thru the shock period?

[Watermom]

I would wait until after the conversion to add CYA. To extend the testing range of your kit, mix one part pool water with one part distilled water, test as usual and then multiply the result by 2. If you need to go higher, mix one part pool water with two parts distilled and then multiply the results by 3, etc. Each level of dilution loses some accuracy, but is good enough to help you determine how much bleach to add.

[b2001]

I used the beach calculator last night to calculate the amount to pour into my pool and did it. Today the pool appears slightly less green and a little more milky and cloudy - so it appears that something is working.

I have an OTO test kit from Walmart and a "Complete Pool DPD" Test Kit from Leslie's Pool Supply. I just tested my water - I couldn't get any kind of a reading diluting the sample - in case it was over 5 ppm - or not diluting it.

I'm getting readings of 2 ppm FC and 3 ppm of TC with the DPD test without having to dilute the sample, which would appear to indicate true chlorine readings. As has been stated, it looks like the bleach chlorine has been reapidly consumed.

My question is, do I need to continuously replenish the bleach into the pool during the day, or do I need to wait until dusk each day to get the chlorine back up to 15 ppm, knowing the the sun will rapidly break the chlorine down during the day ...

... and I'm assuming that getting desired level back to 15 ppm is difference between that and FC, and not TC ...

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Looks like I was a little impatient on the OTO - I went back outside to dump it and it was colored - it's indicating about 1 ppm, so it seems to confirm I'm nearly depleted of FC ...

[Watermom]

You do not need to wait til dusk. As often as you want to test and replenish is fine. It will make your conversion that much faster.