Previous Baqua-apostle now converting.... Here I GO!

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geoshecks

geoshecks

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LifeTime Supporter
May 27, 2009
78
Perry Hall Maryland North of Baltimore
Hello all,

I've been using Baquacil or equiv. in my pool for about 8yrs. It was wonderful at first. Actually I had 6 good years with it. At first, I used to think it was the best thing since sliced bread. By the way I preached the wonders of BQ, you'd have thought I owned majority stock! I used to brag about how easy the system was to my fellow pool owners.The last 2 years have not been so good though. I think my water has been hazy for longer than I probably realize, but I was def. in denial. Started having white algea and when I removed the cover this year, blobs of mustard algea floated to the surface. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I've now joined BQ users anonymous. I'm about to embark on the "12 step" process.LOL. Actually, I just put in the first bleach treatment.

Went to Leslie's to get the test kit. The gal who tests the h2o told me the kit will not measure past 5ppm. Came home and re-read your instructions and realized that she just does not know what is in the fsd kit. She also told me that I should not use liquid bleach because it will leave too much TDS or total disolved solids in the water and that the rest of my chemicals will not work after the conversion. She wanted me to use a non-chlorine calcium based shock at $70 a case. She told me it would take about $300 in chemicals to convert. She said maybe i should wait until i need a new liner. In the meantime, she'd be happy to provide me with Baquacil. When I asked her why they carry liquid chlorine shock, she said that they would not carry it except that the competition has it. (Should I question motivation? Hmmmm!) Needless to say, I made a visit to walmart and picked up my first 20 gal. of bleach.

I appreciate all the info and have made the donation. It will be worth every penny as I see from all the post with successfull outcomes.

I'll take some pics. and post my progress.

Thanks :goodjob:
Geoshecks
Perry Hall, Maryland
 
Hi, Perry. Welcome to TFP.

Baqua conversions are incredibly rewarding for everyone. Good luck with yours and keep us posted as you progress (That's a hint.........we love pictures!) :lol:
 
OK, so maybe I'm the luckiest ex-Baqua user ever.
Shocked the pool last night but could not see what happened due to darkness. Got a slight bronze color when I shone a flashlight on the water. I expected to wake up to a colorful pool. But this A.M., the water was only cloudy and I can see the bottom. Here is the rub: When I went back to Leslie's pool store to buy the kit, I discovered it was indeed only a DPD, not FAS-DPD. I can't find any supplier in the area that has the kit. I'll be ordering from TF (hope I can get it fast). I did find a FC kit with tablet method that only measures to 5. And I have a TA kit. Not sure what to do next. Tested with what I had in a.m.

TA=50
pH=7.4
FC showed 0

Last year, My Baqua test kit (drop method) showed good levels till I cosed the pool. So I added no baquacil for almost the last month, only peroxide shock. I added 3 gal. peroxide shock when I opened the pool before I decided to switch to Chlorine but I added no Baquacil this year. The baqua test showed baqua at 30ppm yesterday so I expected the baqua goo and funny colors. I think the baqua test may have been inaccurate. I'm thinking there's very little baquacil in the pool.(Don't tell my wife the pool may not have been sanitary last year!)

What should I do next? Is there a way of making the pool swimable while I wait for the test kit? I have no way of knowing for sure of the FC since the level may still be high and may have bleached out the test. I have added no other chemicals other than pH adjuster to get the pH to 7.4.

Church kids are coming over next Fri.

Thanks for any advice,
Geo
P.S. Sorry there won't be any pretty colored water pics. But I will post one when the water is crystal clear.
 
You can use your existing DPD tester with dilution for now. To test with dilution, mix equal parts of pool water and chlorine free water (for example distilled water), test that, and multiply the result by two. That will measure FC levels between 0 and 10 and won't bleach out till over 20 (which shouldn't come up).

Right at the start essentially all of your FC will vanish rather quickly. So, for the most part, you are expecting fairly low FC levels. For now, all you need to be able to do is distinguish all the chlorine vanished, from most of the chlorine vanished, and get enough of a reading to raise FC back up to 15. If you run into a case where the FC level reads 10, just give it more time without adding chlorine and it will come down again. Only once your FC level starts staying fairly high overnight will you need the FAS-DPD chlorine test.

Your PH is fine at 7.4.
 

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PH goes up when you add bleach, and reads a "false-high". It drops back down to the prior level when the FC level drops. Just ignore that.

You shouldn't try to do any PH / TA adusting when the FC is above 10. What kind of fluctuating are you seeing?
 
Yes, raise TA to about 80. That will also bring up the PH just a little bit. Both should be more or less ideal after TA is raised.

When doing a conversion you don't need TA to be a specific value, but you want it to be generally in range. A TA of 40 is too low and will allow the PH to fluctuate too much. Bringing TA up will stabilize the PH, so things will stay more stable reasonable the whole conversion. In the later stages, the FC level will be remaining high for a while and you will not be able to adjust PH. So you want to get that dealt with now, while there are still periods of low FC during which you can make adjustments to PH and TA as needed.
 
OOPS! Realized that when
I testes T/A, I used my 50-50 h2o that I needed for my FC test. Did the same for pH. Thank God I did not add chemical before I retested. Actual:

T/A=70-80
pH=7.4

Pool is holding more FC between shocks. I'm shocking every 2 hours.

The conversion seems to be progressing well. What do I do if I get ahead of myself waiting for the test kit? Is there a way of going into a holding pattern?
 

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