Pool owner same pool 20 yrs
Baquacil pool years.
Pool was perfect until about 3 weeks ago, no problems ever. Lots of rain and high heat = green pool with suspended particles. would not go away even after filter clean, super algecide, super duper algecide, floc and countless hours of brushing, cussing and flushing. oh and all chem test results were perfect.
I drained pool 3/4 of the way and refilled with city water.
Here are the test results after all of that.
Baq sanitizer 5
TA 161
PH 8.1
Calcium Hardness 253
Baq Oxidzer 8
Copper 0
Iron 0
Saturation Index 0.95

I am in the process of bringing my ph down however I have never before in test seen the CH so high as well as TA and SI

I will order my good test kit today.
I have 50 gal of Bleach ready to go as well as a walmart test kit that I think I can use the thirds method with distiled water for the time being.

The pool place isnt real happy with me and wants me to use more of their **** to convert, I say NO! they want me to drain again also I said NO!

So here I am, pool looks gerat today but I know better.

I have read and re-read and I will read Pool School some more. I am trying to wrap my head around the calculator at this time.

Thanks in advance I can allready tell this is a great place.

Welcome to TFP and fear not we are here to help and will gladly answer any questions you have during the process.

Follow the specific steps outlined in the article.

Test and add hourly if at all possible during the initial phase of the conversion. It makes things go much faster.

Thank You For the Warm Welcome!!!
I have studied and will continue.
PH balanced and first dose in.
I have about 40 hours before going back on duty.

Don't know how many years you have been on Baquacil (I didn't have any trouble for the first seven years and then everything went to pot.) In my opinion it's never to early to convert and you can be sure of finding both encouragement and assistence on TFP. I converted this spring and am ecstatic with the results. No algae, sparkling clear water and spending money only on bleach (after intial borax, TA and CYA additions). Follow the program and be patient. Post progress reports and you will get whatever advice you need from the "team" here. I gurantee you will be rewarded.

Thank You!
2 years on Baq.
Quick question.
would it be better to have a constant flow of bleach or is it best to hit it with 5 or six bottles at a time?
I think I have found a way to titrate.

I find it easier to go in batches, add a lot, wait a while, test the water, add more as needed. Chlorine demand at the start of a conversion is very very high, so you can go quite quickly at the start and are just waiting for the water to mix so the test is valid. Later on, when the chlorine demand is slowing down, adding chlorine slowly and steadily could have some advantages.

Welcome to the forum

Post lots of pics

No nasty mess as of yet.
Slight color change with first dose.....dissipated quickly.
too much time to watch pool so I made a bleach dispenser.
It takes about 12 min to empty the 96 oz bottle.

sun going down
FC staying at 15+
15 gal bleach
no adverse reactions
baq still showing on test strips

Bleach dispenser......you made your own liquidator!

Don't know what the Baq test strips indicate in the presence of FC. I would ignore them. Just get your FC to 15 in the evening, test for FC in the am and post the results. I started out with very low Baq level, too, and got no color change in the pool. That does not mean that there is no Baqucil remaining. As long as your FC drops by more than 1 ppm overnight, you are reacting with organics, most likely Baq, so keep at it per the Pool School instructions.

So it is ok to let the pool bottom out during the day when the sun eats up all the bleach?

No, I was merely commenting on use of the Baq test strips. Best approach is to check frequently and adjust to 15 ppm throughout the day. As you get near the end point you will notice that the FC depletion slows down. This indicates to me that the depletion due to sunlight is greater than the Baq reaction. You can still continue to add frequently if you want to. This will speed up your conversion but you will use more bleach. You can also just add in the am and pm, adjusting to 15 ppm at each addition. Then your conversion might take longer but you will use less bleach. In your case, since you started out at such a low level, I doubt if there will be much difference. I did it the second way and was done in a total of three days. Make sure to change your filter medium and clean your filter thoroughly when you are done (not recommended before you are done).

The value of adding chlorine during the day depends on what stage of the conversion you are in. At the start, when you are losing all of your chlorine in under an hour, it is best to add chlorine ever hour. Latter on, when you start to have some chlorine remaining in the morning it is best to only add chlorine in the evening. If there is something preventing you from working with the pool, you can slow down to adding chlorine as little as twice a day and things will still be fine, it will just take a little longer.

Since the chlorine during the day is bottoming out can I enter the pool to vacuum and brush, without adverce effects?
I do not have my good test kit as of yet but things are looking very nice, visualy and with the walmart test kit.

You can get in the pool to do cleaning when the FC level is 3 or lower, but I wouldn't recommend any actual swimming and I would wear a bathing suit that you don't care about.

Thought so!
Thanks Jason

TF-100 XL is here!!!
FC 15
CC 0
TC 15
pH 8.1 I know it's the high FC.
T/A 220
CH 210
CYA 0 Ya I know but I just had to try it.
Temp 78

I will do the FC loss test tonight and I am guessing that I will be within range.
Only 48 gal in 6% so far.

Sometime today the FC level should be very low at some point. When you have a chance and the FC level is below 5, test the PH again and adjust it to be between 7.2 and 7.4. PH readings with high FC levels are not reliable.

Thanks,
I have been on top of that and it has been staying 7.3 with 3ppm FC.