Switching from AquaSilk to Salt Water

[tommypl77]

Thank you again....I was reading the topic about switching from baquacil to salt.....seems like I'm at kind of different point right now and I'm not sure what to do. JasonLion, I'm almost positive there is no FC in the pool. The pool was on baquacil for some years, I did not add any chlorine to it. We definietly want to try to switch to the salt system to try it. I already put about 9 bags of salt into the pool. I didn't know about the bleach. I will follow your advice and turn off the SWG till we get some reading of FC. I will also get the additional test to get get a better knowledge of the FC and CC numbers. At this point I understand I should keep adding bleach everyday and test the water. Is the water ok to swim with the bleach ? Also how much bleach everyday ?Thank you again for all your time...

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[Leebo]

Is the water ok to swim with the bleach ?

This is a two part question in my mind.
1. Is the water OK to swim in at this point.......right now. No! The baqua conversion creates a TON of CC's which are rather nasty things. It also often turns the water rather green and causes a safety hazard. If for some reason a person were to get injured, and end up on the bottom of the pool, there is no way of you knowing this. Whenever the bottom of the deep end is unable to be seen clearly, the pool is unsafe to swim in.

Now....once you're finished with the conversion and the water is 100% clean and clear, then yes, swimming in a pool chlorinated by liquid chlorine is safe. Chlorine is chlorine......no way around it. The chlorine you find in bleach is the exact same as the stuff you find in the "Liquid Shock" found in Pool Stores. Only difference is the strength.

Also how much bleach everyday ?

This all depends on your CYA level (yours should be zero, unless you've added some) and how much chlorine you lose per day. At this point let's not focus on this until you are able to get a FAS/DPD test, and we are able to clearly see what your water is doing.

 

[tommypl77]

I'm back...I was very busy last two weeks and didn't have much time to play with the pool or check the forum. Just wanted to say that I'm waiting for the test you recommended, hopefully will be here soon. At the mean time my pool was going thru some changes, the swg was working and all I did was cleaning filter.

Today the water is very clean and the tests results using my regular Taylor kit are :

FC 5.0
CC 2.4
CA 13
TH 250
PH 7.8

Till I receive the FAS/DPD test is there anything I should be doing to get the CC levels down ? Hope you guys can help me. Thanks for your time.

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot to add TA 90

 

[JasonLion]

You can start/continue with the first phase of the conversion, lower the PH to around 7.2 to 7.4 and start raising the FC level up to 15 regularly.

 

[tommypl77]

Thank you. Raising FC just by adding liquid chlorine or put the swg to work at 100% ? Boy I thought I was almost done lol. The pool after going thru some crazy colors is beautiful and clean now. Any idea how long it will take till the pool is safe to swim ? Thanks again

 

[JasonLion]

The whole process often takes weeks, but the amount of chlorine you use slows down dramatically after the first third to half has gone past.

I can't tell exactly how far you are through the conversion. You don't want to use the SWG during the first third, but it sounds like you might be past that part.

 

[tommypl77]

ok. I received the fas/dpd test. Pool looks really clean. Test results :

PH 7.4
FC 4
CC 1.5

Please let me know what should I do at this point, the SWG is working on 50 %. Thank you again for any help or advice.....

 

[jblizzle]

Your CC is too high. You need to SLAM the pool and finish the conversion.

 

[JasonLion]

You are making progress. Those numbers suggest you are in the final third of the conversion. Keep raising FC up to 15 until chlorine holds overnight and CC is down to 0.5 two days in a row.

 

[tommypl77]

Your CC is too high. You need to SLAM the pool and finish the conversion.

Thank you jblizzle. The pool is 17000 gallons. How much bleach/chlorine should i add ?

 

[jblizzle]

Use PoolMath and target 15 like Jason said above.

 

[tommypl77]

Thanks guys, I will keep you updated about the slam results, much appreciated...

 

[tommypl77]

Thank you again for all advice. ...The FC level we for last couple days was around 15-16 ppm with the swg running at 75%. I checked yesterday and CC was down to 0.5 ppm. I set the swg to 45% now. I think I'm almost there but if there is anything I should do at the moment please let me know.....how long it will take for the FC to go down to levels safe to swim ? Or how long should I keep the high FC level ? Honestly the pool is clean and bright like never before......

 

[JasonLion]

If CC is down to 0.5 two days in a row you are essentially done. Now it is time to balance all your levels and then you should be good to swim.

 

[tommypl77]

Thank you again !