Baquacil pool - help with green water

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mudpie13

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Aug 19, 2009
35
I'm using Baquacil, I've done everything that the pool store has told me to do, and I just keep wasting my money buying more shock, etc.. Can anyone direct me to the next step?

I want to convert, will have to print out all the instructions, etc. before I can do it. Actually, I'm afraid to. Maybe I should just pump all the water out than convert. Not sure what is the best method. So much to read here and I'm new at this.

I have an 18 round above ground pool, sand filter.
 
It's very risky to completely drain an AG pool. Even if you did drain completely, you would still have to follow the steps in the article, it's just a much quicker process.

Even if you drained half, that would shorten the conversion time considerably, so that might be worth it to you if water is not expensive for you, or if metals in the fill water are not an issue...

But you would still have to shock to 15 until it holds, CC is .5 or less, and then change out the sand and add CYA. No way around the last parts....
 
I hope that you have read some of the narrations of recent conversions. They should give you a good idea of the process and how it progresses. Notice the photos... we love photos!

You need a good test kit, probably some extra reagents, before you even start.

Then figure out whether to do a partial drain or not, and locate your source for chlorine, since you will be using a lot of it very rapidly.

Also, figure out now how to post photos.... we love photos.... before you start, in the middle and at the end.

Anona, who has not yet figured out how to post a photo but will do that when the patio work is done.
 
Well, my pool is back to normal now (keeping fingers crossed), after using floc and more shock. Since I live in northwest Indiana and only have a few more weeks to go, I'm thinking I will convert next June when I reopen the pool. That way, I will have time to read everything, figure out how to post pics, and learn the lingo (CYA, CC, FC, reagents?, etc.) and purchase everything I will need. I think I will have to take off several days from work in order to accomplish the conversion. I do this stuff on my own since my ex used to take care of the pool on a daily basis and I never had to learn how to do anything except skim the surface!
 
Orrrr . . . .

You could do it now. Never put off until tomorrow and etc. Our moms told us that, didn't they?

You're looking at two intimidators: a Baqua pool that's misbehaving and will continue to do so, and being on your own. We can help you beat both of those monsters at once, and really, wouldn't it feel great to look at a clean pool and say, "I did this myself. I don't need no stinkin' ex!"

You can have your pool converted by the end of September and close it to clean, clear water. Next year when you open all you'll need is a couple bottles of bleach, maybe some CYA (stabilizer), and your sun glasses because that water will scorch your eyes.

I think any Baqua conversion is scary as h*** but many people have done it successfully and so can you. You're free of the ex, now free yourself of the pool store. We can't be physically there to help you through it but we are here. We won't leave you hanging.

Just do it!
 
I'll think about it. The weather here has been so bad this summer I've barely used the pool other than to clean it! Now, it looks good and maybe I can keep it that way until I close.

I will consider doing the conversion before I close the pool. I promise I will read up on everything I have to do, print everything out, get a test kit (which one is best?) I'll have to get more sand, right? See, that's what I was thinking about, having to buy more sand for the conversion than throwing it all out in a few weeks when I put my filter away for the winter. I change sand every year (although I've read somewhere on this website that people use the sand for more than one season).

I am very happy I've found this website and know I will convert back to chlorine eventually. I just have to get it together. And, yes, it does feel good to get things done by myself. Screw the ex!
 
You are kidding me, right? I've been changing the sand for 5 years, that's what the pool store owner told me I had to do. (And now, I'm wondering what the ex used to do, I honestly don't remember) I do have to put the filter away for the winter or it could crack, right? So, in order to put it away, I have to dump all the sand. Too heavy to move otherwise. I wonder if I could just cover it with something and leave the sand in it. (I'll bet you are thinking I'm a real nitwit! I've learned alot in 5 years, but still have more to learn)

See, I have to read all of these posts in order to get the help I need.
 
We live in PA and our pool freezes solid by January. We don't store the filter (sand) inside. We drain the water out and leave the plug open - and make sure we remember where we put that little screw cap :)

The handle on top has a setting for WINTER which takes pressure off the gasket. We move it to that, cover the filter and pump with a tarpaulin, and wait for snow. Oh, yes, we drain the pump as well, of course.

Our sand is now in its 4th full season and filters as well as ever. I backwash a couple time a season, more often if we had a lot of rain and I have to drain some water off. I always use that as an opportunity to backwash/rinse the sand.
 
mudpie13 said:
I do have to put the filter away for the winter or it could crack, right? So, in order to put it away, I have to dump all the sand. Too heavy to move otherwise. I wonder if I could just cover it with something and leave the sand in it. (I'll bet you are thinking I'm a real nitwit! I've learned alot in 5 years, but still have more to learn)

See, I have to read all of these posts in order to get the help I need.
Click to expand...

You should have a small cap covering a drain around the bottom of the sand filter. It's the black cap in the bottom left of this picture.
PoolFilterSandHaywood-main_Full.jpg


All I do with mine is drain the water out, leave the cap off and leave it where it sits for the winter, no cover, and take the pump inside. Generally by the time it gets cold, there shouldn't be enough water left in it to worry about freezing. You could cover it to keep UV off it but I think you'll find most people do the same as I do. I close in September and don't usually have to worry about a hard freeze until December.

I also may have read that Baquacil pools need the sand changed more frequently than others but I have a teflon coated memory and may be wrong on that.
 

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OMG - It sounds like I've been doing alot of unecessary work! I will definately leave the filter outside, turn to winterize and cover with a good tarp with the cap off this year. I will take the pump inside, just to be safe. I only did what the dealer told me to do. Come to think of it, I don't believe my ex ever put the filter away (trying to think, trying to think). And I can't remember him covering it all the time either. But I do know he would put the pump in our basement.

I am sick and tired of spending alot on Baquacil products and I will convert, no doubt about it.
 
Just make sure you put the little drain cap from the filter in a place where you'll find it again next spring :)

The reason we don't put the pump in the basement is because disconnecting and reconnecting the plumbing is a PITA. By the time we get a hard freeze it's drained. We do take the gasket out of the lid but leave the lid on the pot to keep the critters out.

Don't give another thought to all you've been doing that might not have been absolutely necessary. You went with the best information you had available to you and that's all any of us can ever do. Here on TFP you're getting new and different information which has worked and is working for very many people. Use it for all it's worth! Its value is huge.
 
Oh yes, I will put the cap away! But now I'm wondering.....I may need a new filter base (the thing that holds the sand). It keeps leaking around the cap - drip, drip, drip, drip. I did try putting some teflon tape around it but apparently did not do a good job. I have to find all the papers on all my stuff so I know what model it is.

Yes, I agree, connecting everything is a pain. But, unless a pump is on sale, and I mean REALLY a good sale, it has to last for me. I actually hate the darn thing because I have to plug and unplug it when I do the backwashing/rinsing process. I guess they make pumps now that have a switch right on them. Sigh.... they are expensive.

Again, I am so lucky to have found this website. Wish I would have done it in the first place!!!!! Thanks for all your replies - very helpful!!!
 
I have one of those drip, drip, drips on the pump pot. Last year it drove me nuts. This year I just smiled at it.

I have a 12.5K pool. One hour of three large dogs swimming drags out enough water to require a refill and keeps my CYA in line even though I do use a minor amount of trichlor. The slow drip from the pump pot is negligible in the overall scheme of things.

Some day when you decide to replace your pump you can also replace the filter. For now, I'd just leave it alone. If the drip becomes a steady stream, sure, it's a dam waiting to burst buck heck, until then, smile at it.
 
HAHAHAHA - OK, I will just smile at it!!! As a matter of fact, it's been dripping all summer and I do have to add water back to the pool every now and then. But, to tell you the truth, I'm not going to worry about it, the season is almost over here and I will be closing up in just a few weeks.
 
We all have to replace water now and then. Evaporation, splash out, backwashing etc cost water. A few plumbing drips here and there don't really amount to much. They are, however, a sign of something 'not right' and do need to be addressed eventually. Just not today. Be like Scarlett O'Hara :)
 
That was Rhett Butler who didn't give a d***. Scarlet was the classic procrastinator who said, "I won't think about that today. I'll think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day."

I was 14 years old when I saw GWTW the first time and have ever since sorted tasks, problems, issues and crises into two piles: those that have to be taken care of now and the Scarlet O'Hara to-do list. Repression as a form of denial. Works for me.
 
You are so right, it was Rhett, my bad! But I guess I will be like both of them; don't give a Dang right now, and tomorrow is another day!

Now, if I could just win the Mega Million lotto here on Friday (up to $325,000,000.00), I could just PAY people to worry about things for me. That would work for me.

I so wish someone who has done the conversion lived right by me so they could give me a hand. But, eventually, I will manage to do it.
 
Yeah, I know. When we're faced with a problem we don't really want people to fix it for us, we really just want them to be there while we're fixing it ourselves. I'm thinking of MMQ here, saying, 'You know, I've always wanted to vacation in Indiana. Why don't I come to your house for a week, we'll go buy a truckload of bleach and we'll beat that Baqua pool into submission while we drink (whatever) and get a tan."

How many tickets did you buy for that Mega Million?????
 

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