Been using Baquacil for 6 summers. Time to try BBB

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I'm on my 3rd day of the conversion, and so far I have used about 22 gallons of 12.5%. I still have another 60 or so gallons of 12.5% on standby. (It was on sale for 1.99/gal)

I've read to let the chlorine circulate for about 30 minutes to allow for proper mixing. Someone can comment if I'm wrong on this.

I think the biggest thing to be sure of is making sure you have enough chemicals in your test kit to continually check your FC level. I order reagents for my kit since my kit only came with .75 oz bottles...I'm still waiting on the delivery guy who should be here any day now. Hope he gets here before I run out!

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Quick link to my conversion thread...If you want to see my pictures...
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/74070-First-post-Opening-Converting-Enjoying

Nice green color you got there! They more often you can check and raise that FC up to 15 ppm, the quicker it will turn hazy, and eventually clear!
 
I'm not an experienced feller here as you know, however, all the white particles will start to disappear, and to aid this, I have done a little vac-to-waste (which requires adding more water to pool) and vac-to-filter to get rid of some of it sooner. I don't think your FC level will stabilize with all that white stuff, because the white stuff is the baquacil being attacked. Meaning, its chlorine doing work (or CC, Combined Chlorine). You will know when you are done converting, when you do an OCLT (overnight chlorine loss test). Basically, when your pool water is clear and you think your in good shape...Test your FC level after the sun goes down. Save that number and test again in the morning BEFORE the sun comes up. If your FC level has gone down 1 ppm or less, and your CC level is 0.5 ppm or less, you are done with the conversion, and can then continue on with balancing your water.
 
Floc will not work at this stage of the conversion. Chlorine is the only needed product to rid the water of the Baqua. Given you've used Baquacil for some time now, your pool has a buildup of the product, and it will be a small fight on your hands. If you can add fresh water, it will help speed up the conversion, however even with a 100% drain, you will still have some remnants of the Baqua-goo in the pool. Continue to raise the FC to 15 as often as you can. Early in the morning, and after sunset at the very minimum. During our conversion a few years ago, we used up around 60 gallons of Chlorine for the swap. The total process took around 10days to do. As you can tell, it's a fight. In all honesty it's one of the hardest processes we see on the forum. Keep your FC at 15 and brush.....the chlorine will do the rest.

As for your media.....
If you've yet to use your sand filter, DON'T! As soon as you run that baqua through the media the sand is toast. That goo is almost impossible to get out of the sand. The photo below was from day one of our conversion, and we started with fairly clean DE "fingers."

Fingers_day_2.JPG


Your cartridge however does stand a small chance however at being able to be re-used. In all honesty the damage is done at this point to the cartridge, so you may as well keep using it. Trying to use magic products such as floc and such will only add to the total cost of the conversion and most likely end up costing more than a new cartridge would.
 
Just a thought to our outstanding TFP Experts. TSP cleaner (trisodium phosphate) mixed full strength is it strong enough baqua-goo remover to help clean Scott`s cartridge filter. I enjoy following everyone`s expertise and learning. Hopefully is a few years I can be as helpful. Hang in there Scott TFPC will guide you through the chaos to a beautiful clear pool. Leebo that photo of DE filter is nasty!
 
I would urge you to follow the script. Adding this and that and rushing other steps will just prolong the agony. You may as well get a nice big order of POP (Pool Owner Patience)!

Keep posting pics. :goodjob:
 

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Casey - You got it!

All I have done is follow the 'script' and everything is going great. All the info I have and have shared I learned from reading from the experts and those who have done it before. I'm new to pools, new to the forum, and as long as you have some patience, and take your time, everything will go smoothly.
 
Thanks to all for the advise. I don't plan to use the sand filter until completion, and I have not installed my new cart filter yet. Just running it empty for now just for the circulation per your earlier advise, Leebo. Just added 3 gallons of bleach about 30 minutes ago and just tested FC about 5 min ago... FC is about 7. Just now added another gallon before bed. Will check it first thing in the morn. I'll wait on the floc until all is clear. Hopefully won't need it at all. Thanks for the encouragement! Goodnight all!
 
We never advocate the use of FLOCK on TFP but on very rare occasions and this is not one of them. You will get better use out of that FLOCK as a paper weight.
 
Pool is beginning to turn back to normal.
pool 5-17.jpg
It's now a blue-green color instead of just green. Progress!
I've used 12 gallons of bleach (8.25%) in just the last 24 hrs, and that seemed to make the biggest difference. Total of 26 gallons so far. FC level was about 20 last night at 10:30 PM, and at 9:00
this morning, the FC was 5, CC was 9, PH holding steady at 7.5.

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Still really cloudy water, but the white particles are getting much smaller.
 
Rover didn't like the pool. stopped up quickly with goo. have to wash the filter bag before trying again. Just added 4 gallons of bleach a bit ago. FC now at 24 and CC at 6. I went to the pool supply where I've always had my water tested for baquacil and had them test it again for baquacil. here are the results:
Sanitizer and Algistat at 10, (I was hoping for less by now, but...Maybe a false reading because of the bleach?)
pH 7.6, TA 106,
Calcium hardness 189,
baquacil oxidizer 16,
no metals,
no dissolved solids
Saturation index 0.1 (?) not sure what this means
zinc 0, and it says my zinc should be 2 to 4 ppm, is that just for baquacil pools? I don't know how accurate these results are since it was a test for baquacil, but I figure they've gotta be close.
 

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