Stuck with Baquacil

[JohnG111]

I replied earlier, with a long drawn out paragraph, but it only uploaded, "thankteencouragement", So anyway, just to let everyone know, I cheated. I completely drained the pool and scrubbed the heck out of it. It was filled with funky algae "skin" and red sand ( who knows what was blown in during the close). I filled it back up and got my numbers where I needed for the initial start up. Sorry I just couldn't brave adding more chemicals to this already steeping cauldron of funky water. I just wanted to start fresh and learn from the beginning how to maintain the proper levels. Which does bring me to my questions. 1) What is the relationship between FC and CYA, and 2) the calculator shows that I need to put in 98oz of 6% bleach to get my FC up to the proper level, how often can I expect to replenish this supply as the pool is in the sun for most of the day. Thanks for everyone's encouragement.

J

[The Mermaid Queen]

not cheating... just taking a slightly different route to a Trouble-Free Pool!!

You will probably lose about 2ppm of chlorine to the sun each day. You will need to test each evening and add the proper amount of bleach.

I will let someone else explain the chlorine-CYA relationship, but in brief, the CYA acts like 'sunscreen' for the chlorine. It helps keep the chlorine from breaking down so rapidly. However, it also decreases the effectiveness of the chlorine somewhat, hence you need to have higher FC levels the higher your CYA goes.

[MeSue]

There is a good thread on the chlorine/CYA relationship here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/viewtopic.php?t=2346

[JohnG111]

Thanks Mermaid for the kind words and Sue for the string. It was very useful and if I followed it correctly, maintaining a proper fc level should prevent any algeacide usage. But, what causes the CyA level to increase, is this a by product of the chlorine(aka bleach)? (my newbie is showing), also after I add the bleach when is it safe to return to the pool? I'm assuming at least 12 hours after circulating the water(my wife is making me ask as she stared at me like I was pouring gasoline in her soup when I was bleach treating the pool). Also, I seems that it would still be a good Idea to continue using the "pucks" floating around just to be sure that the fc maintains...?
I appreciate everyones help, with everything else going on, ah heck, just thanks is all.

J

[Titanium]

JohnG111,

Congratulations on your conversion from Baquacil. The pucks contain a form of stabilized chlorine - in other words, the pucks contain CYA. The more pucks you use, the higher your CYA becomes. Once CYA gets in the pool, there really is no way to get rid of the CYA except by partial drain and refill.

The liquid chlorine, on the other hand, is unstablilzed - hence no CYA.

I hope this helps a little. Keep asking questions. I strongly recommend reading the STICKIES.

Did you take any "before" and "after" pictures? If so, please post to the forum.

Again, congratulations! You won't regret the BBB regimen. You are going to have such clear water and your yearly chemical costs are going to be a fraction of what you are used to.

Titanium

[The Mermaid Queen]

Dichlor (granules) also contains CYA.

It is safe to get into the water immediately after adding bleach, if you are just maintaining normal levels.

If you add bleach each evening, there is not really any reason to leave pucks in the pool.

Happy swimming!!

[tnthudson]

So remember, CYA is in the Dichlor and pucks (stabilized chlorine), but not in straight bleach (unstabilized). If you haven't gotten one yet (and I'm sorry if I missed you mentioning it), I highly recommend a test kit...I got the one Duraleigh sells (see the main Index page on this forum) and it's great, but there are others.
If you go with just bleach, you will need to manually add CYA (called Stabilizer at WalMart, 100% cyanuric acid).
You can measure your CYA and the other chemicals you need to balance with the test kit, and you can use Jason's Calculator and other tools on this site to get everything in line.

[poolpsycho]

I had a similar problem with pink slime or algae using Baq. A product called Pro Team Supreme worked for me. It is a two part process using two tubs of a crystal chemical. One tub is spread around the pool. You wait a a specified time, I don't remember how much, then spread the second tub. The pink algae will be killed. What the PTS does is get rid of the O2 in the water, that supports algae life. It also works in Chlorine water too.

I am about 3/4 of the way through my conversion from Baq on my 24 ft round pool. I opened the pool with the intension of converting so I had lower levels of Baq than you do. I've spent $66 on Chlorine so far. Last year, my first full year on Baq, I was putting 2 gal of oxidizer in a week. BIG $$$ plus CDX and all the other gunk they said to toss in. I had sheets of pink slim under my wedding cake stairs that floated out like ghosts across the pool. My hoses from the pool to the pump were completely pink inside. They (pool store) actually told me to pour oxidizer into the skimmer slowly to try to get rid of it - but to be careful because it could oxidize too fast and explode. That's when I found this web site and decided to convert to CL. I encourage you to do the same regardless of how much Baq you currently have in the pool. You simply don't know what might happen this summer. You might be tossing money, I mean oxidizer in your pool at 2 gal/week too and still not have a sanitary pool. It might take you a couple of weeks and cost 200 dollars but you will come out far ahead with a cleaner, less expensive pool to maintain. My pool right now today is clearer than it has ever been period. I guess I'm now an official convert as I'm preaching the benefits of CL.

Russ

[JasonLion]

Pro Team Supreme is a way of adding borates to your pool, rather more expensive than Borax. Borates do have some algaecidal effect.

[poolpsycho]

Thanks, I wasn't aware of the chemical compounds in PTS. It is expensive though, as you say. I think I paid about $70 when I purchased is a few years back. I am just starting the process this morning. My pH was tested yesterday. It was 7.8. I was directed by Branch Brook Pools (Namco) to get it down to as close to 7.0 before starting to add the next step. which is Saf-T Shock, a chlorine free oxidizing agent. It doesn't say the chemical name. I got this advice before I checked out TFP.

Pro Team Supreme is a way of adding borates to your pool, rather more expensive than Borax. Borates do have some algaecidal effect.