I am very new to this site and to pools in general. I installed my Radiant 24' last fall and jut got the heater working so I am starting to consider keeping the water optimal. I have used Baquacil to startup and have added a couple of weeks of maintenance dosages. We started using Baquacil for two reasons: (1) we live on a pond and I have the drainage going into the pond and have been told that chlorine would kill the fish in the pond, (2) my children have very sensitive skin and chlorine is very hard on them. Now that I am doing a lot of research I am seeing that Baquacil is not preferred by most of the veteran pool owners, but what choices do I have given my situation? Thanks!
Baquacil Questions
- Thread starter bcedergren
- Start date
Welcome to the forum!
As to your first point, I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure there isn't enough chlorine in our pools to do damage to a pond.
The second one is easy....the sensitivity is not to chlorine, but to chloramines, which are only present in a dirty pool. Our members with sensitive skin will tell you that they have zero issues in their clean, chlorinated pools.
As to your first point, I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure there isn't enough chlorine in our pools to do damage to a pond.
The second one is easy....the sensitivity is not to chlorine, but to chloramines, which are only present in a dirty pool. Our members with sensitive skin will tell you that they have zero issues in their clean, chlorinated pools.
Welcome to TFP!!!1) why are you draining into the pond? Likely the FC levels are so low for the ratio of pool water to pond water, that there would be no issue with the fish ... you think they like the Baq products better than the chlorine that will disappear almost immediately.
2) What makes you think they are sensitive to chlorine? If it is at public pools or non-TFP pools that are not likely balanced, then that is not a fair assessment.
There are many posts on the forum about people that think they have sensitive skin and report 0 problems when taking control and having a well balanced pool.
Thanks for the quit responses. As I stated, I am new to pool ownership and am basing my comments to what I believed to be better for my children. The "kind and caring" pool store guy stated that Baquacil would solve all of my life's problems so I bit. What has got me questioning that choice is the price for continued use of Baquacil. I plumbed a drainage into the pond because I have to drain my pool everytime the "upgraded liner" comes off of the track and needs to be rehung. Yes, this has happened twice since filling it last fall. And, yes, my experience with my childrens' reaction to chlorine has been with the public pools so I do not have experience with a private chlorine pool. At this point, without stopping pool usage for the entire summer, what recommendations do you all have? Continue with Baquacil, start using a SWF system, or switch to chlorine? BTW, I am not even sure how to test the water short of bringing it back to the pool store. I do have a fancy kit with tubes and colors but have no clue what to look for.
A SWG is a chlorine system.
The quick solution would be to drain and refill and start using chlorine or a SWG.
Or you can follow the Pool School - Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine article.
Can you be more specific on what test kit you have? These are the Recommended Test Kits.
Where is Albertville? Please add your location (City, State or City, Country) to your profile as described HERE as it will help us help you.
The quick solution would be to drain and refill and start using chlorine or a SWG.
Or you can follow the Pool School - Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine article.
Can you be more specific on what test kit you have? These are the Recommended Test Kits.
Where is Albertville? Please add your location (City, State or City, Country) to your profile as described HERE as it will help us help you.
Updated my location. I am in Minnesota so my swimming season is about 2 1/2 months. 
I will have to look at the testing kit that I have. I'm pretty sure that it is nothing that would be recommended on here. So, if it would be better to drain, again, and start over, what steps would I take? What equipment/chemicals would I need? I would really like to not have to go back to the people who got me into this mess in the first place.
I will have to look at the testing kit that I have. I'm pretty sure that it is nothing that would be recommended on here. So, if it would be better to drain, again, and start over, what steps would I take? What equipment/chemicals would I need? I would really like to not have to go back to the people who got me into this mess in the first place.BTW, I have a cartridge filter. Will that work with a SWG? Or is that what is replaced?
A salt water chlorine generator is added to your existing plumbing. If the cartridge filter was sized properly it should work fine, but you will probably need a new cartridge when converting from Baqua to chlorine.
Do you have any recommendations on what to get for a chlorine generator and any other equipment that I will need? I am not opposed to draining the pool again, especially after reading some of the trouble others have had on here with their conversions. I just don't want to cut our swimming season any shorter than it already is. Would it be better to wait until it gets too cold to swim or do this sooner when the weather is still warm and run the **** out of the heater? Thanks for any advice on this.
If you are worried about the short season ... you could certainly try to just keep the Baq system through the summer and then switch when the water gets cold.
I would suggest you maybe no worry about a SWG at this point and just either:
1. Stick with the Baq through the summer
2. Drain and start manually adding chlorine
3. Convert existing water to chlorine and maintain it manually.
Maybe next year consider adding the SWG if you find you do not wish to manually add the chlorine.
The choice is yours. Seems that most reports indicate that the Baq works for a year or 2 before problems start, so may not be too bad to stick with it for a few months.
I would suggest you maybe no worry about a SWG at this point and just either:
1. Stick with the Baq through the summer
2. Drain and start manually adding chlorine
3. Convert existing water to chlorine and maintain it manually.
Maybe next year consider adding the SWG if you find you do not wish to manually add the chlorine.
The choice is yours. Seems that most reports indicate that the Baq works for a year or 2 before problems start, so may not be too bad to stick with it for a few months.
Okay, so I stopped by the pool store this evening to pickup some additional Baquacil to get me through the next few weeks. I asked the question about SWG and chlorine and was told that SWG won't work with above ground pools and chlorine would be just as expensive as the Baquacil. Are they blowing smoke or is there any truth to their claims?
I know there are hundreds, if not thousands of folks here with AGPs and SWGs. Absolute lie that the cost would be the same.
Now, if they said the return on investment for a SWG and a short swim season might not work out, I would give them a little lee way. In the long run a pool with liquid chlorine and a SWG pool are going to end up about the same. The SWG will cost more up front to buy/install the equipment and the liquid chlorine is just and ongoing expense.
n240sxguy
Well-known member
Lots of smoke. Swg or chlorine will be fine in an above ground pool.
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Sounds like the smoke they are blowing is the Bob Marley kind, because they must be high if they believe what they are saying.
SWG can absolutely be used in an AG pool. As for cost, it has a very high initial cost but a very low ongoing cost if properly maintained. Average cell life is something like 5-7 years, possibly more with your short swim season. Manually adding liquid chlorine like I do has low initial cost and a low ongoing cost. Baqua has a high initial cost and high ongoing cost.
It is very true that a lot of people who have come to this forum thinking they have a chlorine sensitivity find that they are not affected by a TFP managed pool. As Smykowski said, this is because the sensitivity is almost always to combined chloramines. In a pool with low FC but higher CYA there is not enough active chlorine to handle the buildup of chloramine. That is what causes most problems associated with chlorine, including rashes and smell. So odds are if you choose to switch to a chlorine pool and managed it to TFP standards, including proper FC to the CYA level, then your children would probably not have any problem. I have actually been accused of not using chlorine before, despite my FC level being over 5 ppm.
So if you want to keep things going with baqua for the season and are not having any problems, have at it. I would strongly consider chlorine next year though. It really is easy to care for when done properly.
SWG can absolutely be used in an AG pool. As for cost, it has a very high initial cost but a very low ongoing cost if properly maintained. Average cell life is something like 5-7 years, possibly more with your short swim season. Manually adding liquid chlorine like I do has low initial cost and a low ongoing cost. Baqua has a high initial cost and high ongoing cost.
It is very true that a lot of people who have come to this forum thinking they have a chlorine sensitivity find that they are not affected by a TFP managed pool. As Smykowski said, this is because the sensitivity is almost always to combined chloramines. In a pool with low FC but higher CYA there is not enough active chlorine to handle the buildup of chloramine. That is what causes most problems associated with chlorine, including rashes and smell. So odds are if you choose to switch to a chlorine pool and managed it to TFP standards, including proper FC to the CYA level, then your children would probably not have any problem. I have actually been accused of not using chlorine before, despite my FC level being over 5 ppm.
So if you want to keep things going with baqua for the season and are not having any problems, have at it. I would strongly consider chlorine next year though. It really is easy to care for when done properly.
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