Have used Baquacil for 25 years. My husband took care of pool and never had problems. He passed a year ago in May and I am learning how to keep up our pool. I have had 2 rounds of white water mold in the past month. Lady at pool store told me today she would convert to clorine if she was me. She said Baquacil was just not strong enough to kill all the WWM. May be selling my house because of expense and upkeep of pool. Would you switch and when. Thanks for all help and suggestions, I am totally uneducated on pool although I have had to learn fast.
used Baquacil for 25 years should I switch to clorine
- Thread starter Jeannie5
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 24,381
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Hi Jeannie,
My condolences on your loss.
I would NOT switch now. The conversion process can be a real pain in the rear to complete and it will be no fun AT ALL to do it in the middle of summer. I do believe you should switch the pool to chlorine but I would recommend you wait until next spring to do it when the pool is opened. At that point, the baquacil sanitizer levels will be a lot lower (especially if you don't add anything at closing) and the conversion should be faster. It can also give you plenty of time over the winter to plan out the conversion and get what you need in terms of test kits and chemicals.
As for now, try to keep up with the Baquacil as best you can. Another Baquacil user has just start using Ahh-some (Ahh-Some Water Cleanser for Your Pool, Hut Tub, Jet Bath, Swim Spa and Washing Machine -) in his pool to solve persistent WWM and pink slime issues. It has helped him so far. This could help you too. I will PM him and bring him into this thread.
Jeannie, I think the swimming pool product was used, not the spa cleaner, but i am not certain.
I have a pool not spa, so interested in pool cleaner. Especially if it can be used with Baquacil.
Hi Jeannie. You also have my sincere sympathies on the loss of your husband.
I am the pool owner that JoyfulNoise referred to who has begun using the product called "Ahhsome". It is indeed the pool cleaner - not a spa product. It is only supposed to be used once a month. I bought it through Amazon. I added it about 2 weeks ago and my cloudy water cleared up nicely. Then, unfortunately, I was traveling for close to a week and typically remove the filter grids when I'm away from home. Upon coming back yesterday, I found the water was very cloudy again. Obviously, not filtering the water at all for a period of days is asking for trouble. So I started adding the usual weekly chemicals and it looks better already today BUT I also found evidence of additional white water mold. The main trouble I've been having with the mold and slime is that it clings to the plaster walls and is very resistant to removal. I've tried wire and plastic brushes and neither gets it off. The only thing that seems to work for me is to actually wrap a cleaning cloth (that is actually designed to wash cars) around my brush and do the entire pool. So, in effect, it's like taking a towel and swimming under water and wiping everything with it. It works quite well. At this point, I'm on the fence as to whether or not I plan to continue with baquacil or switch back to chlorine. As JoyfulNoise mentioned, you don't want to attempt any sort of conversion now. Continue to add your weekly oxidizer amount.
Do you also use a chemical called CDX? I'm curious as to what your husband's pool care consisted of being that you mention 25 years of baquacil with no apparent problems. So I take it that your water has always looked clear and no evidence of mold/slime prior to just recently? If so, you've done very well. I wish I could say the same. My water, over the years, has often been cloudy but I always attributed this to more of a plaster problem since our plaster was pretty well worn out over the past many years - just had the pool renovated 3 years ago. I didn't expect the mold and slime to adhere so much to the new, smooth surface, but it sure seems to be. The old plaster was all pockmarked and rough so I could understand that it could cause problems, but I didn't expect to have trouble with the new plaster.
So...the products I've been using that are designed to combat mold and slime that may help you keep going are: 1) Baquacil CDX - gets added immediately after adding the weekly maintenance dose of oxidizer and is designed to help maintain the oxidizer level 2) Ahhsome - comes in a 6 oz. container. 3) Aquafinesse pool water care tablets... Beyond that, I also use Baquacil Sanitizer and Algistat, and Baquacil Algicide.
Do you use some sort of test strips (Baquacil or Softswim) to check your oxidizer and sanitizer levels? In hot weather and warmer water temps, as well as when there is a presence of mold and slime - oxidizer is consumed more rapidly and so you may need to add more than the usual weekly amount. It can be VERY difficult to maintain a proper level. The mold and slime consume it. The less oxidizer in the water, the more likely the mold and slime biofilms will develop and thus the cloudier the water will become. There is a Taylor test kit that uses drops (reagents) that is supposed to be much more accurate. I'm considering getting one if I'm going to stay on baquacil. Also, there is the usual brushing and vacuuming that is important to keep up. Keep an eye on the filter pressure as well. Since you use a sand filter, you're likely to have fewer problems with baquacil than with a DE filter. I am not a great fan of pool store advice (used to be but am no longer for various reasons relative to things they suggested over the years that I now know were not the best advice), but what you were told seems to be correct - that the hydrogen peroxide in the Baquacil Oxidizer is just not as strong as chlorine in being able to kill these mold and slime organisms.
Hopefully some of what I've mentioned will be helpful. Can't think of much else to suggest right now. I've been on Baquacil almost as long as you and, quite honestly, it's been an on-and-off battle. I just bought new DE grids last summer and this summer they turned pink from all the pink slime that was in the filter.
Best of luck with the remainder of the season. Please keep in touch. Perhaps we can exchange additional info if we both decide to convert to chlorine next season!
Regards,
Keith
I am the pool owner that JoyfulNoise referred to who has begun using the product called "Ahhsome". It is indeed the pool cleaner - not a spa product. It is only supposed to be used once a month. I bought it through Amazon. I added it about 2 weeks ago and my cloudy water cleared up nicely. Then, unfortunately, I was traveling for close to a week and typically remove the filter grids when I'm away from home. Upon coming back yesterday, I found the water was very cloudy again. Obviously, not filtering the water at all for a period of days is asking for trouble. So I started adding the usual weekly chemicals and it looks better already today BUT I also found evidence of additional white water mold. The main trouble I've been having with the mold and slime is that it clings to the plaster walls and is very resistant to removal. I've tried wire and plastic brushes and neither gets it off. The only thing that seems to work for me is to actually wrap a cleaning cloth (that is actually designed to wash cars) around my brush and do the entire pool. So, in effect, it's like taking a towel and swimming under water and wiping everything with it. It works quite well. At this point, I'm on the fence as to whether or not I plan to continue with baquacil or switch back to chlorine. As JoyfulNoise mentioned, you don't want to attempt any sort of conversion now. Continue to add your weekly oxidizer amount.
Do you also use a chemical called CDX? I'm curious as to what your husband's pool care consisted of being that you mention 25 years of baquacil with no apparent problems. So I take it that your water has always looked clear and no evidence of mold/slime prior to just recently? If so, you've done very well. I wish I could say the same. My water, over the years, has often been cloudy but I always attributed this to more of a plaster problem since our plaster was pretty well worn out over the past many years - just had the pool renovated 3 years ago. I didn't expect the mold and slime to adhere so much to the new, smooth surface, but it sure seems to be. The old plaster was all pockmarked and rough so I could understand that it could cause problems, but I didn't expect to have trouble with the new plaster.
So...the products I've been using that are designed to combat mold and slime that may help you keep going are: 1) Baquacil CDX - gets added immediately after adding the weekly maintenance dose of oxidizer and is designed to help maintain the oxidizer level 2) Ahhsome - comes in a 6 oz. container. 3) Aquafinesse pool water care tablets... Beyond that, I also use Baquacil Sanitizer and Algistat, and Baquacil Algicide.
Do you use some sort of test strips (Baquacil or Softswim) to check your oxidizer and sanitizer levels? In hot weather and warmer water temps, as well as when there is a presence of mold and slime - oxidizer is consumed more rapidly and so you may need to add more than the usual weekly amount. It can be VERY difficult to maintain a proper level. The mold and slime consume it. The less oxidizer in the water, the more likely the mold and slime biofilms will develop and thus the cloudier the water will become. There is a Taylor test kit that uses drops (reagents) that is supposed to be much more accurate. I'm considering getting one if I'm going to stay on baquacil. Also, there is the usual brushing and vacuuming that is important to keep up. Keep an eye on the filter pressure as well. Since you use a sand filter, you're likely to have fewer problems with baquacil than with a DE filter. I am not a great fan of pool store advice (used to be but am no longer for various reasons relative to things they suggested over the years that I now know were not the best advice), but what you were told seems to be correct - that the hydrogen peroxide in the Baquacil Oxidizer is just not as strong as chlorine in being able to kill these mold and slime organisms.
Hopefully some of what I've mentioned will be helpful. Can't think of much else to suggest right now. I've been on Baquacil almost as long as you and, quite honestly, it's been an on-and-off battle. I just bought new DE grids last summer and this summer they turned pink from all the pink slime that was in the filter.
Best of luck with the remainder of the season. Please keep in touch. Perhaps we can exchange additional info if we both decide to convert to chlorine next season!
Regards,
Keith
Jeannie, a cautionary note on the baquacil test strips if you use them. Regardless of the printed expiration date on the bottle, the part of the strip that tests the level of sanitizer/algistat may expire within 6 months of opening the bottle the first time. i found this out the hard way and will spare you the long story; short version is two different pool stores gave me sanitizer levels of zero and they didn't realize their own strips were bad. one store's strips were even past the expiration date. wow, such expertise. other than that i really did not have a hard time using the test strips. i was glad when they added the oxidizer pad to the strips. Good luck, whatever you decide.
I'll also add that...right now I have the two most common brands of test strips - both of which are well within expiration - and I get different results from both of them. My water has been very cloudy at times and yet test strips have shown that the oxidizer level is fine. Other times, my water has been very clear and the test strips have shown that the oxidizer level is extremely low. What sense? I think a kit that uses reagents is the only way to go. I have no doubt that, if you've been using Baquacil as long as you say, I'm betting that at some point you had a softswim test kit that came with reagents that tested the oxidizer and sanitizer levels and was VERY effective. Then, of course, in someone's infinite wisdom they stopped making the reagents for the kit, thus rendering the rest of the kit totally useless! THAT's progress. Anyone that is now using Baquacil, if I'm not mistaken, probably started out on "Softswim" - both biguanide-based sanitizing systems. I don't think Baquacil was used for swimming pools until considerably later.
i started on Baquacil in summer 1990. and the strips at that time did not include the oxidizer pad.
Thanks Keith for all your good information. My husband, if I remember, did not seem to have problems with the water. I guess he did it so much, he just knew. I used the Ahh-some and so far the water is beautiful, sparkling. I did not have a lot of WWM and have used it twice as well Ahh-some sand filter cleaner. The maker of Ahh-some has advised me to go to chlorine as the B.oxidizer is not strong enough. I use the 1,2,3 Baquacil system. 1-Sanitizer/Algistat 2-Oxidizer 3-CDX. Pool store lady actually suggested I go go to chlorine as the oxidizer was not strong enough. As you know you only have to add chemicals weekly so I take a same to pool store and they test for me and advise me if I need to add more than the maintenance amount. I am going to close my pool Labor Day weekend and will be soooo happy. It has been a real pain, but I have learned a lot. I will decide by Spring if I will stay on Baquacil. I like it as our liner lasted 22 yrs and water does not burn eyes. Thank you again for all your information!! Yes, let me know what you decide. Thanks, Jeannie
I started with the B. test strips but soon found they were not accurate. I could test and then retest immediately and get a different reading. Thanks for your help. I will decide by Spring to switch or not. I admit I have not enjoyed all the money I have spent this Summer and my water is now beautiful, just as I plan to close in another week!!
Thank you,
Jeannie
Thank you,
Jeannie
I think my husband started out with something that you add to the water and it would turn color letting you know what to add. Not sure. I did find out if something is eating the oxidizer and it is low each week and you have to add more than maintenance, you have white water mold, even if you can't see it or some type of algae. Baquacil is only thing we have used. Jeannie
Jeannie, the baquacil oxidizer is 27% hydrogen peroxide. it will seem strong enough if you splash any on you. be sure to use protective gloves and glasses when handling open containers.
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