Weekend Baquacil Conversion

[mjones]

This isn't so much a reply, but a plea for help!! I use baquacil. I didn't cover my pool last winter, so I had a ton of leaves & debris in it. I worked my tail off getting all of that out, & then shocked w/baq. No change at all. Water looked like nasty chocolate milk. I called my baq dealer, had me test for metal, none, had me test baq level, none. So, he said I would have to use chlorinating granules to clear up mess, then start back with baq. He had me put 6 lbs of granules per day for 3 days!! 1st day: Huge difference, water green not brown, cl level low, added 6 lbs. 2nd day: little bit lighter green, added 6 lbs. 3rd day: no change, cl way over 10. He said, keep on for a couple more days, but don't add until 6 ppm. It has been 4 days, cl level still above 10. I even drained about 2 feet of water, & put about 6 inches back in. I am desperate. We had already bought seasons worth baq, before I found out how bad it is. My husband is determined to try it again, cause it didn't burn eyes, turn hair green, fade clothes, & felt really good to swim in. So, I called the baq company. They said that "their" dealer, told me the wrong thing & now I have a chemical reaction. They said to turn pump off, & wait for everything to settle to bottom(24 hrs). It has been 48, nothing has settled. Cl level is still +10ppm??? Can you help me?? BTW my pool is 30,000 gal. 16x32x8 inground liner.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!!

[gwrace1]

I would suggest you read back thru these posts and search the forum. You really do not want to use Baquacil products for many reasons. Chlorine does not cause eye, skin irritation and does not change the color of your hair or clothes when levels are maintained properly. It is the most inexpensive way to sanitize and prevent algae growth in your pool.

Read thru the baqucil to chlorine conversion posts for suggestions on how to complete this process. It takes a lot of work and patience but in the end you will have a cleaner. inexpensive and easier pool to maintain

[mjones]

Thanks for such a quick reply. I am ansy!! I don't think my husband wants to convert to cl. So, what do you do when you are half way between the conversion? I have read all posts re: the conversion, but how do you turn back? We have already bought $500 worth of baq, with no return!

[gwrace1]

I don't have any experience with turning back to Baquacil with Chlorine in the pool. As you know the two chemicals are not compatible. You might consider continuing on with the Chlorine conversion and selling your Baquacil products on Ebay.

[JohnT]

Thanks for such a quick reply. I am ansy!! I don't think my husband wants to convert to cl. So, what do you do when you are half way between the conversion? I have read all posts re: the conversion, but how do you turn back? We have already bought $500 worth of baq, with no return!

Sell it on ebay.

[b2001]

If you put in your CYA prior to changing your cartridge, I wouldn't put it in the skimmer. It may accumulate in the cartridge for a few days and then you'll throw it out with the cartridge.

duraliegh, well I'm pulling my cartridge out two to three times a day now to clean - unless you're saying that it will lodge in the filter, and when I throw the filter away, I loose it. If that's the case, I can wait until I get a new filter. If I'm going to loose it when I power wash the filter, then I guess I can throw it in the pool although I didn't want it to sit on the bottom. How long does it take to dissolve?

Good Job....Clorox is good stuff, huh?

Thanks, and yes it is. My neighbor is the only person that I know that never has any problems with baquacil, and spends very little for chemicals. He is very meticulous and thorough in cleaning and maintaining his pool, and that is probably a big factor. Yet, he is impressed with my results and is considering converting later this season.

I called my baq dealer, had me test for metal, none, had me test baq level, none. So, he said I would have to use chlorinating granules to clear up mess, then start back with baq. He had me put 6 lbs of granules per day for 3 days!! 1st day: Huge difference, water green not brown, cl level low, added 6 lbs. 2nd day: little bit lighter green, added 6 lbs. 3rd day: no change, cl way over 10. He said, keep on for a couple more days, but don't add until 6 ppm. It has been 4 days, cl level still above 10. I even drained about 2 feet of water, & put about 6 inches back in.

What kind of filter do you have? I have found the that keeping my cartridge filter cleaned at least a couples times a day is an important part of cleaning up a mess. there are several in this forum that have said that the filtering is the only way to remove it - the chemicals just kill it.

You note in my previous posts in this thread, but I'll repeat - I started at a baquacil level of 50, drained my pool down to 16 inches of water, refilled, baquacil was at 10 to 15 ppm. Prior to conversion, I got as much trash out as I could. My pool turned a nasty green due to algae. I started conversion - went 4 days with the same green, nasty mess. I now have 28 beach bottles in my back yard - I feel like I'm a plastic bottle recycling center. Finally, the 5th day - bingo!!! clear pool. I'm shocking for a couple more days to get all of the baquacil residual out. Again, I stepped up my filter maintenance process the last couple of days - I can't backwash - to rmove as much stuff as I could.

I am surprised that your chlorine levels are still up unless those are slow dissolving granules. At first, my chlorine went down to zero both night and day, and now holds during the night and goes down during the day due to the sun and no cya.

I can tell you what I would do - convert to chlorine. I have never gone through a rainstorm without my baquacil pool turning heavy green the next day - and I have to dump in $45 of shock. It rains two days later and I'm at the same point again. I've gone through two rainstorms the last two nights and my chlorine based pool is as clear as can be.

Either way you go, you have to eliminate one or the other, and I've never seen anyone on this forum convert from chlorine to baquacil. If I remember, baquacil's stie has information on converting from chlorine to baquacil.

Sell it on ebay

There should be no problems there except for the baquacil shock - it is considered a hazardous chemical and shipping costs are higher in accordance. I mail ordered all of my baquacil products last year except the shock because it was cheaper locally. If you've got $500 of baquacil supplies, I'm assuming that you've got a lot of shock. That was most of my costs.