Baquasil to Salt Water Chlorination

[Dar Brunz]

Converting inground from Baquasil to Salt Water

We are thinking of converting our 26,000 Gallon inground from Baquasil to Salt Water Chlorination. Do We follow the posted instruction process first, adding our own chlorineand then start with the salt water system? ...or is there a different procedure for converting to the Salt Water chlorination from Baquasil?

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Converting inground from Baquasil to Salt Water

Welcome to TFP!

The conversion process is exactly the same. Ideally you shouldn't install the SWG until after the conversion is complete, to avoid getting baqua-goo in the cell.

 

[Dar Brunz]

We are thinking of converting from Baquasil to a Salt Water Generator Chlorine system. I have read "Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine." Should I follow these instructions using liquid bleach until I stabilize the chlorine in my pool or can I allow the salt water generator to do that for me? ...or is there another process for conversion from Baquasil to salt water generated chlorination? Also, where can the TF100 test kit be attained and what is an appropriate price?

 

[Dar Brunz]

Thanks for the advice to wait on on the generator. I have not peeked under the pool cover yet to see what I have. If the water is clear will it still turn green before it gets clear again with chlorine?

 

[JasonLion]

It will turn some interesting color during the conversion, not always green.

 

[Voodoo_Pool]

You asked, "Also, where can the TF100 test kit be attained and what is an appropriate price?"

Here is the link: http://tftestkits.net/The-TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html

I would recommend getting the Speedstir, too. Good luck with the conversion.

 

[Butterfly]

Along with Voodoo's recommendation for the SpeedStir, I recommend the XL Option (extra FAS/DPD for all those extra FC test you will be doing for the conversion) and the Salt Test Strip option (for your new SWG).

Please post pics during the conversion so we can follow along with you

Welcome to the forum

 

[Dar Brunz]

ok. Got my TF 100 test kit and opened the inground vinyl pool. It is cloudy and looks like tooth paste. This is most assuredly white water mildew which was a recurring problem with the Baquasil products. Pictures forthcoming.

I ran the tests
pH: 7.2
Total Chlorine: 0
Alkalinity: I'd say between 80 and 90, the color was more lavender/rose than red but didn't change further with up to 11 drops.
Calcium was purple right away with no change in color following addition of 10 drops r-0012 but I did see the development of particulate.
Cynaric Acid test did not change color. I'm not sure why the black dot would disappear? Should the fluid turn dark with addition of CYA and hence occlude the dot when levels are sufficiently high?

I am having problems getting Jason's chlorine calculator to respond. I added 1 gallon of household liquid bleach but presume I will need a LOT more for my 26,000 gallon pool. Wish me luck!

Also, I don't know if it is relevant but I was using the baquacil stabalizer CDX plus.

 

[Richard320]

ok. Got my TF 100 test kit and opened the inground vinyl pool. It is cloudy and looks like tooth paste. This is most assuredly white water mildew which was a recurring problem with the Baquasil products. Pictures forthcoming.

I ran the tests
pH: 7.2
Total Chlorine: 0
Alkalinity: I'd say between 80 and 90, the color was more lavender/rose than red but didn't change further with up to 11 drops.
Calcium was purple right away with no change in color following addition of 10 drops r-0012 but I did see the development of particulate.
Cynaric Acid test did not change color. I'm not sure why the black dot would disappear? Should the fluid turn dark with addition of CYA and hence occlude the dot when levels are sufficiently high?

I am having problems getting Jason's chlorine calculator to respond. I added 1 gallon of household liquid bleach but presume I will need a LOT more for my 26,000 gallon pool. Wish me luck!

Also, I don't know if it is relevant but I was using the baquacil stabalizer CDX plus.

When you mix pool water with the CYA reagent, it will get cloudy. Then you slowly dribble it in the tube until it obscures the dot. If it doesn't get cloudy and the dot never disappears, you have no CYA.

You will need a lot of bleach. Gallons and gallons of it. You won't be just pouring it in once and waiting for it to go clear, either. You'll need to load it up, let it circulate and turn colors, test and add again, over and over and over, every couple hours. I suggest you spend a little time looking for old threads with lots of replies in the Baquacil forum to get an idea of what you're facing. If you see a little paperclip next to the thread title, that means pictures!

 

[JasonLion]

PH and TA are good. I expect the CYA to be zero, so the sample should be completely clear. When you have CYA in the water the sample will turn very cloudy.

In 26,000 gallons, it takes six gallons plus one quart (or about 4 1/2 large jugs) of 6% bleach to raise the FC from 0 to 15.

Just at first you should expect the chlorine to disappear very quickly. You can test the FC level and add more chlorine to bring FC back up to 15 as often as once an hour.

The conversion process is the same with CDX plus as it is with regular.

Expect the pool to change some strange color soon. Keep at the conversion process, and it will all clear up in a couple of days.

 

[Dar Brunz]

Thanks for the confirmation! I was just at work doing the calculations and came up pretty close to your instructions...

6% bleach = 60000 ppm
in 26000 gallons that is about 2.3 ppm
Therefore about 6.5 gallons would = 15 ppm

 

[Dar Brunz]

Yey! Clear water! It has been a busy 3 days of testing, vacuuming, backflushing and brushing with lots of trips to Walmart and the local grocer to replenish our bleach supply in between. On Wednesday I added the chlorine every hour or two and just in the morning and evening on Thursday and Friday. I went from 15 ppm last evening (Fri) to 14 ppm this morning. I am going to the pool store to get my sand...seriously thinking about bucking up to have them change it for me after all the goo I removed. I am hoping the salt water generator will arrive today so I will soon have a TFP.

The postings and warnings of color changes and goo psychologically prepared me for what was in store. I will try to upload pictures with notes for viewing from pretreatment until today.

I saw the most changes on Day 1. When I opened the pool it was toothpaste-blue. We had recurrent problems with white-water mildew using Baquacil.

DAY1: I added 2.0 gallons of chlorine that I had at home and the pool turned cloudier. This was not enough. I had trouble getting Jason's pool calculator to work but the kind folks here confirmed my calculations that for a 26,000 gallon pool, each gallon of bleach adds about 2.3 ppm. I added another 4.2 gallons 2 hours later. During the first few hours of the conversion the chlorine was reduced to nearly 1 ppm.

The water turned mustard yellow where the chlorine was being introduced to the pool. Using the TF 100 test kit, I have been adding enough chlorine to keep the level at 15 ppm (aproximately 35 gallons over the last 3 days).

Upon the next addition of chlorine (1 hour later at noon) the pool turned green. At 2:30 PM I backflushed lots of yellow water out of the pool and added more bleach. The color became vasoline glass-green and an oily residue started forming on the surface.

By 4:30 PM there was a thicker residue forming on the surface of the pool with lots of particulate throughout that looked like skin flakes. I still had 5.5 ppm FC...the most all day and 9 ppm CC. I tested my alkalinity and noticed it had dropped from aprox 85 ppm to 70 so I added 4 lbs.

At 9:30 PM it looked like someone was making chicken soup in my pool. I skimmed the yellow scum off the top. In areas it was coagulating and forming what looked like chicken fat. 4 ppm FC 4 CC and 100 ppm alkalinity.

Day 2: 8AM The water was clearing a bit, looking more like Mountain Dew. I vacuumed loads of the chicken fat-like substance off the bottom. I could just barely see the bottom on the deep end (which is better than when I started the process). I was at 9 ppm FC 4 CC. I brushed and flushed and added bleach.

At 7:30 PM I felt like I was turning the corner. The water was more blue than green. 3.5 FC and 2 CC. I Vacuumed, flushed and added water and bleach.

Day 3: 8AM The pool was clearer still! There was some chicken fat goo on the bottom but much less than the previous day, and 11 ppm FC with only 3 CC. Alkalinity is high, 110 ppm. I don't know why it would go up, perhaps I mis-measured before.

10 PM The pool looks pretty clear but it is dark outside. Looking forward to see it tomorrow. 5 FC and 2 CC. Added bleach.

Day 4: The water is clear but still has a slightly green tint. I am relieved because I wasn't sure if the bleach would take care of the white water mildew. What's better is that I only lost 1 ppm FC last night: FC 14 CC 4.5. Time to clean the filter and prepare for the SWG.

 

[Dar Brunz]

I'm having trouble uploading photos...I guess they are too big.

Now that I have appeared to turn the corner, should I try to maintain between 8 and 10 ppm free chlorine (rather than 15 ppm) to protect my vinyl?

Heading out to get some clean sand and CYA.

 

[JasonLion]

Go ahead and replace your filter media and then start adding CYA. Then continue to maintain FC around 15 until you get two consecutive days with CC at 0.5 or lower. The minor risk to the liner ends as soon as you add CYA, so maintaining 15 at that point isn't an issue.

 

[Dar Brunz]

I didn't have the tool to change the sand so am having it changed tomorrow...1 week from when I started the conversion. Although I am not loosing much chlorine at night (1-2 FC), I am having trouble getting the CCs to drop below 3. I started adding CYA (aprox 6 lbs total) but am still loosing about 7-8 FC during the day. I took a water sample to the pool store and they are not finding any residual baquasil product in the pool. The water looks clear but has a green tint and I am concerned about algae. Should I throw in an algaeside? How long does it take to accomplish 0 to 0.5 CC?

 

[JasonLion]

Don't worry about algae. The FC level is so high there is no chance of algae. The green tint might be metals in the water, don't worry about it till further on in the process.

The rate at which the CC level goes down varies. I would expect it to go down by 0.5 to 1.0 per day, though it could be faster or slower than that. Towards the very end it can spike up again for a day or two.

 

[Dar Brunz]

We had the sand changed yesterday. There was a spike in the CC up to 6 but the water tint has cleared, so it appears to be doing something. This evening the FC = 6 and and CC = 3. I was hoping to install the SWG this weekend but it arrived severely damaged. I am looking forward to not having to add 5 gallons of bleach every day.

 

[Dar Brunz]

Starting the process of making the switch (see pics attached). Photos for this post are in reverse chronological order...

 

[Dar Brunz]

Bringing the chlorine to 15 ppm brought out the pretty colors that were promised...and some other surprises. Photos for this post are in reverse chronological order...picture on top was the last photo of the day.

 

[Dar Brunz]

Day 2: Making progress! Started the purge-dirge "Vacuum, brush, flush, water, vacuum, brush, flush, water" Photos for this post are in reverse chronological order...picture on top was the last photo taken. By Day 3 we could see the bottom of the pool! [attachment=0:2yaawfl4]ChlorineGreenClear.jpg[/attachment:2yaawfl4]