Another Soon to be Ex-Baqua User

[bobc58]

I want to make sure I am not forgetting anything with my baqua to chlorine conversion. I have been reading the baqua to chlorine conversion posts quietly for a while and finally decided to be another converter. After two years using baqua, I started with the cloudy water that tests perfect at the pool store. I refuse to buy any more of their clarifiers, floculants, etc., etc. I started my conversion by using potassium monopersulfate shock in an attempt to bring the baqua level down. I am not sure that was worth the time and effort. I did not see a noticeable decrease so I went ahead and started the process. I don't have one of the recommended test kits yet, but one is on order. I have a basic 4 test kit for now. I am adding the initial doses of chlorine, using the calculator, and by the time I test the chlorine level, FC is down near 1 or 2. I expected this based on some of the reading I have done.
I have already added 9 of the 182 oz. bottles of 6% chlorine. The baqua level has been cut in half, and currently is at a reading of about 10. My water is the murky deep green color with a lot of light colored foam with brown swirls on top. It is similar to some of the pictures I have seen posted. I am taking pictures as well and will share them when I am complete.
Here are my readings before adding any chlorine:

Cartridge filter
TA 130
Calcium Hardness 200
PH 7.6

My chlorine reading is just starting to register a little higher after adding the shock dose (using the calculator).
I had a hard time getting a reading above 1 until now. I finally hit between 2 or 3. My understanding is that the chlorine is being used up quickly on the baqua and any molds, etc. that may have been in the water.
PH is now at 7.4. TA seems to be a lower at about 100.
I have cleaned my cartridge filter twice today when the flow became weak. I am looking out the window as I type this and it appears that there is not as much of the foam on top of the water. Not sure if that means anything.
Please let me know if I seem to be missing anything major.
Thank you for what you do on this forum. It gave me the push I needed to get this process started.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

It sounds like you are doing great! You don't need to worry about the foam. Foam doesn't happen every time, but it isn't anything you need to think about. The foam will all clear up before the water does.

We do love to see pictures.

 

[bobc58]

I tried to add some pictures but they were not sized right in the preview. Do you have any words of wisdom regarding adding the pics. I have a few good ones.

 

[Butterfly]

Welcome to the forum

Lots of us use PhotoBucket.com for adding our pix.

Congrats on starting your conversion :-D

 

[bobc58]

Thank you for pointing me to photobucket. Here are some pictures of my 1st day adding CL to convert my baqua pool:

Update! Here are the pictures after resizing them with the recommended freeware.

[attachment=1:ssn5rs3p]May 30-1 PM-After Shock-2.jpg[/attachment:ssn5rs3p]
[attachment=0:ssn5rs3p]May 31-3 PM-After 1st CL Treatment-2.jpg[/attachment:ssn5rs3p]
[attachment=2:ssn5rs3p]May 31-4 PM-After 2nd CL Treatment-2.jpg[/attachment:ssn5rs3p]



I will add 2 good photos to another reply.

 

[geoshecks]

Good choice!

You may want to use the 50-50 dilution method for testing your water for TC while you wait for the kit. It's been working great for me. As explained by the geniouses on this site, use 50% distilled and 50% pool water, then double your result. Of course this won't work for the end of the conversion when you need a more accurate reading. If my reading showed under 10 after doubling, I just use the pool calc. and shock to 15. Just be careful not to use this water mix to test TA and pH as your result will not be acccurate (I did this mistakenly and adjusted pH then had to readjust).

You should be able to edit your picture file size right on your camera. Most digital cameras allow this. Just choose the smallest size when you edit.

Good luck!

 

[geoshecks]

sorry for the spelling errors Jason....forgot to check.

 

[RackingJ]

Congrats on the conversion! Keep hitting it with bleach. We're starting to clearly see the bottom of the pool now after 2.5 days. :-D

 

[mickey4paws]

Thank you for pointing me to photobucket. Here are some pictures of my 1st day adding CL to convert my baqua pool: http://s569.photobucket.com/albums/ss140/bobc58/Baquacil to CL Conversion/?albumview=slideshow

Welcome to the forum. Those are some great pics! My conversion never got quite that bad but that's because I first drained/refilled about 2/3 of the pool and used sodium percarbonate for most of the process.

I see you're using photobucket but if you ever want to resize pictures, Irfanview is a nifty little program (free too). Just open your picture, click on Image, then Resize, and then give your file a new name (so you still have your original larger picture). For this forum I usually resize to 30% of the original, and the pics still look good when posted. You can find it at www.irfanview.com

Thanks for sharing your pictures

 

[bobc58]

Here are two more photos of my first day adding CL to my soon to be ex-baqua pool.

 

[bobc58]

I am in my second day of CL treatments and the baqua is either gone or close to it. I am getting higher CL readings for the first time. All the posts I have read at this forum have helped me not panic and just take care of business. However, I am going to need the better test kit soon. When I checked my order, I found it was not shipped yet from Leslie's, so I cancelled the order and ordered the TF100 kit. I might have to be a little creative until it arrives.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I am in my second day of CL treatments and the baqua is either gone or close to it. I am getting higher CL readings for the first time. All the posts I have read at this forum have helped me not panic and just take care of business. However, I am going to need the better test kit soon. When I checked my order, I found it was not shipped yet from Leslie's, so I cancelled the order and ordered the TF100 kit. I might have to be a little creative until it arrives.

Good choice!

 

[bobc58]

Question. I am trying to make my current cartridge last for the conversion. I cleaned it with the acid cleaner prior to starting the conversion. When my cartridge was new, I had a pressure reading of 12. After cleaning it, the best I got was 14, and it went to 16 rather quickly. Now that I am doing the conversion, when I clean the cartridge (and hose off all the brown gunk) the starting pressure is 16. It goes to 18 after a few hours and stays there for quite a while. Does anyone have any suggestions? Do you think I will need to change the cartridge to complete the conversion? I have two that I ordered arriving tomorrow. The cartridges for my filter have 200 square feet of material and measure 10" x 31" with a 6" center hole.
I have had the green colored water for a day now and the CL demand is slower. As far as I can tell, the FC is changing from about 15 PPM to 10PPM every 2 to 3 hours. I am using the dilution process (1/3 from pool, 2/3 distilled water) and multiplying by 3 until my TF Kit arrives tomorrow. And, I am verifying by doing the same test full strength. At 15, the test color is dark red to brown and at 10 it is a dark yellow to red with red swirls appearing in the sample as the drops are added. I think I saw that process somewhere in a post, but maybe someone can verify it for me.
The green color of my pool water seems to be getting lighter so I hope I am progressing. I will keep adding the chlorine every hour or two. So far, a quick calculation of chlorine I have used equates to about 47 gallons of 6% solution.

 

[JasonLion]

Try soaking the cartridge in automatic dishwasher detergent overnight. Use one cup of detergent for every five gallons of water. That should clean the cartridge up enough for you to be able to get through the conversion.

By the by, you should never do an acid based cartridge treatment without first doing a detergent soak as described above.

 

[bobc58]

Thank you Jason. I am going to make sure I have the chlorine level up and soak the cartridge overnight as you recommended. This was the first time I used the acid bath to clean this cartridge. There were no directions on the bottle referencing the process you described.

 

[bobc58]

I cleaned my cartridge with automatic dishwasher soap last night as suggested. The water was a dark brown color after soaking it all night. It seems to have bought me a little time to get through the conversion.

I also received my TF test kit today. The tests worked exactly as stated in the instructions. Here are the results of my initial tests at 6 PM:

PH 7.2
FC 12.5
CC 7
TC 19.5
TA 100

Based on these tests, do I need to check CC every time? My guess would be to check it once a day until the water clears up more. The green color is not as dark and the cloudiness seems to be starting to clear.

I added the proper amount of CL to bring the FC up to 15 at 6 PM. I tested again at 10 PM and the FC was 13.5. I added a top off dose again and I am leaving the filter run overnight.

With the readings I have, and with no more biguanide showing in my test, should I expect the water to begin clearing sometime soon? I will be able to put in at least 3 top off doses of CL on Thursday and Friday, but can stay on it over the weekend.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Testing the CC once a day should be fine. You should be seeing visible improvement each day, sounds like you are staying on top of it, and now armed with your test kit and a cleaner filter, you should be in making some good progress over the next couple days. I bet you finish by Sunday.

 

[bobc58]

Here are a few more pictures of day two, three, and four of my conversion.

[attachment=2:gvlanzut]June 1-8 AM.jpg[/attachment:gvlanzut]
[attachment=1:gvlanzut]June 2-8 PM.jpg[/attachment:gvlanzut]
[attachment=0:gvlanzut]June 3-7 PM.jpg[/attachment:gvlanzut]

The weather was cold and rainy during this time which I think helped speed my conversion along. I was also pretty persistent with adding chlorine the first three days.

Today is day 5 and there was quite a bit of sun today. I brought the FC level to 15 before work and my readings at 4 PM were FC - 1.5, CC - 4. I added the CL to get FC to 15. This was the first day I was able to see the bottom of the pool. Now that I can see it, I vacuumed the scum that accumulated in the center of the pool and along the edge opposite the inlet.
At 6 PM I tested the water again and the reading were FC - 13.5, CC - 4. I again topped off the CL.

I am starting to feel like I am coming down the home stretch!! Not too bad considering I started 5 days ago with a biguanide reading somewhere between 20 and 30. The pool store tested at 30 while my test showed closer to 20. (I despise the biquanide test strips and I will be glad to give them to the garbage man).

Hopefully I will be posting some pictures of sparkling blue water soon.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

GREAT PROGRESS! Keep it up.

 

[bobc58]

These will probably be the last two pictures I post for my conversion. My water has cleared up nicely. My FC and CC tests are gradually improving overnight. This morning, the FC was .5 higher than the previous night, and CC was .5 less.


[attachment=1:uec3gfl7]June 4-4 PM.jpg[/attachment:uec3gfl7]
[attachment=0:uec3gfl7]June 5-7 PM.jpg[/attachment:uec3gfl7]