I was referred to this website because I am wanting to know step by step how to convert my 42000 gallon vinyl pool from Bromine to Chlorine. Have yet to open the pool this season so I am quite sure I have no bromine levels at this time. I have heard and researched that you could simply drain the pool and refill and add the chlorine tabs to my chlorinator/brominator and off we go!!

Any help will be appreciated since I am planning on doing this tomorrow

Tomorrow! Well, here's a thread that might help you.

help-want-to-switch-from-bromine-pool-to-chlorine-t19393.html

Welcome to the forum

"Thank You" so much for responding! I guess I better get to draining that pool if I want to do the conversion by this weekend!! Why someone would use Bromine in a 44,000 gallon pool is beyond me. I am quite sure this will take a few days since I have an inground pool and want to assure that the liner does not start to shrink and I just heard the temps in OKlahoma are going to be in the 90's today...ugh.

Now, Is there any water testing I do to insure that there are NO traces of Bromine left before I add the Chlorine?

You have to be very careful about completely draining an in-ground vinyl pool. If the liner is more than a couple of years old it is likely to tear when you refill, and even newer liners can shift and wrinkle when you drain the pool.

Well I was thinking of draining about 2 ft and then start refilling while still draining. I had a problem with my pool a few years back when my husband decided to clean the pool cover while it was still on the pool. He used a Commercial grade cleaner which he sprayed on and then washed off with a high pressure nozzle attached to the garden hose. We have the loop loc safety cover with the drain panels in the middle so while he rinsed the very soapy solution off it drained back into the pool through the drain panels. Oh yeah the pool cover was sparkling clean but as soon as we started up the pool equipment it was instant foam!!!!!!! had to literally drain the pool 2 times to get all of the soap residue out and then had to change the sand in the filter for any soap residue that was left in there. What a mess! Wish I would of changed to chlorine at that time but he was adamant to keep the bromine. Why someone would use Bromine in a 44,000 gallon pool in full sun was completely ludicrous to me. Unfortunately with the price of Bromine going up so high it is just becoming way too expensive to continue using. I have 2 choices...convert to chlorine or find someone with a back loader and fill it in. I prefer not to go with the latter...lol

This forum is awesome and I appreciate all of your help!!

One answer why people would choose Bromine for a pool, from my personal experience. I am not advocating the use of Bromine in pool, especially now that so much information is available for managing a chlorine pool.

Way, Way, back in the 80's, when we moved into this house, the pool had an in-line chlorine tab feeder, at the pumping station. We moved in early fall, and kept the pool open all fall/winter with good looking water. Next summer, as my dogs started spending more and more time in the pool, even napping, down in the water on steps, I began to see bleaching of their coats. Most were show/working dogs and considered to have some of the best coats. The highlights in the Fawn Mastiff coats began to fade (several different colors of highlights in the outer harsh coat) and bleach out. Rottie coats started to turn from shiny black to dull, reddish black. At the same time DH complained about the chlorine smell and skin irritation.

I knew nothing about all the values and relationships and tested only for pH and Cl. Time for a change.

In 87 we had an in-line Bromine tab feeder installed and CL feeder removed. Doggie coat conditions improved dramatically and DH stopped complaining about the Cl.

It was as simple as that. I did find that the cost, back then, was pretty much the same. The Bromine cost more up front than chlorine tabs but it went further (longer before refilling the feeder). I probably spent about the same on the weekly "shock" for both "systems" [sic].

Soon after that, don't remember how long, I switched to the commercial sized Nature 2 canister. And continued to use Nature 2, and until last summer (when I found TFP) Floatron, for three years. Yes, I did get metal stains over the years. I'm still working on copper stains that will probably be gone about the time I have to re-plaster the pool. My current plaster is 14 years old and in great shape considering the abuse it has withstood. 1) I didn't know anything about water balance other than pH and Cl 2) It became scaled so much that in 2004 virtually all the blue plaster was covered with white, stained scale and 3) I did two (maybe) three heavy acid washes between 1996 and 2008. I did an AA treatment fall 2009 that released a lot of stain and have kept adequate sequestrate levels that have continued to keep iron from staining and has been slowly releasing the remaining scale.

BTW.... I never had a hint of algae while using the Nature 2 commercial or the Floatron, as long as water was kept filtering virtually 24/7 most of the year with a little less time in winter, BUT just how safe was my pool really????? It got "shocked" once or twice weekly, BUT?????????????????

gg=alice

If you read down to Chem Geek's post toward the bottom of the link Butterfly gave, (here) doing partial drains and refills is not conducive to getting the bromide level low enough.

Kinda what I was thinking too.

Aside from the expense of running bromine, is there any other reason why you have chosen to switch to chlorine at this time? Because of the potential problems of doing a full drain on a vinyl lined pool as Jason mentioned, this may be something that you might want to address at a later time. One day, you will need to replace your liner and that would probably be the best time to make the switch over to chlorine.