Baqua, starting this week its all green again

[ND]

Hi there - So I'm yet another frustrated Baquacil (my pool store goes by the Revacil brand name now...) pool owner, who's been struggling to maintain a good looking healthy pool. Ive been reading all these stories and I pictuarize myself in each of these. So, I have a 20X40' 30-33,000 gallon pool (believe me, I'd be happier with a smaller pool), vinyl, sand filter etc. Opened it a couple of weeks ago, managed to get to an OK looking blue cloudy state, which lasted a mere week, after which starting this week its all green again, unbelievable ! I've had the same issue the last 3 seasons ever since i moved into this house. Its really nice to see so many have already successfully converted to a Chlorine pool. I've now finally made up my mind to join in as well. Ive been reading all of these forums...which has been extremely useful. I still have a few questions tho - 1)will it help to first empty out atleast half (if not all ) of my pool water, then start the conversion process? or it doesnt really matter. My thot here is that it may be quicker/more economical to treat 15-20K gallons vs 33K, plus I'm desperate to see the bottom of the deep section (which ive never seen) to make sure no algae is left behind during brushing/vaccuming. But then there's the cost of refilling (approx $60-100). 2)I've just changed my sand filter 2 weeks ago and wouldnt want to spend another $175 to the pool person to change it again. Is there any way by which i can still use this sand during and after the conversion..?..will really appreciate any suggestions...thanks

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

1) Yes, replacing water will speed up the process.
2) During the conversion is fine. After the conversion is complete is questionable.

A conversion is an adventure, but the end result will be well worth it.

 

[ND]

Hi there - just wanted to give u a quick update. Last Sunday I started the conversion process. Added 15 gallons of liquid chlorine from the pool shop for my 30k pool. They recommended i start with 15gallons, then scale it down after a few days etc. I was expecting to see the color changes...however my green pool turned blue in a couple of days. I took some water sample to the pool store yesterday...seems my baquacil sanitizer still came up as normal to high, Chlorine level was at .5ppm. So they suggested i dump in another 10 gallons..should bring the sanitizer level down...after which i should be close to being done...followed by the filter cleanup an all. Now..does this make sense ? should i still expect to see some color changes..? is it ok if i really dont see that happening..and it just turns from a cloudy blue to a clear blue ..? thanks

 

[SwervE]

Hi there - just wanted to give u a quick update. Last Sunday I started the conversion process. Added 15 gallons of liquid chlorine from the pool shop for my 30k pool. They recommended i start with 15gallons, then scale it down after a few days etc. I was expecting to see the color changes...however my green pool turned blue in a couple of days. I took some water sample to the pool store yesterday...seems my baquacil sanitizer still came up as normal to high, Chlorine level was at .5ppm. So they suggested i dump in another 10 gallons..should bring the sanitizer level down...after which i should be close to being done...followed by the filter cleanup an all. Now..does this make sense ? should i still expect to see some color changes..? is it ok if i really dont see that happening..and it just turns from a cloudy blue to a clear blue ..? thanks

I am doing the conversion myself. Mine turned green for only 15 minutes and then it turned light blue and cleared completely, took less than a day for the changes. But I am thinking that it isn't the amount of chlorine you put in, but how long you can shock the pool in order for the chlorine to eat away the other chemicals. Keeping it at 15ppm for an extended period of time will net more results than shocking once with a high amount of chlorine and then nothing afterwords. My baqua level was only 6ppm when I started and I am going on a week of conversion. I'm still not done. I could be wrong so I will leave it to the experts to chime in.

 

[34zoned]

i'm not an expert, but from what i got on this site was very helpful. first you have to keep at it. what i mean by that is you should get one of those dpd test kits so you can keep the FC at shock level and CC zero. that way you could do all the testing yourself instead of going back and forth to the pool store. also keep the filter running 24/7. when your CC level is 0 and it's still cloudy, check your pH, ta, ca, & cya. once you get the hang of it, you'll look back and feel like that was easy.

 

[jblizzle]

Just want to point out that the key test is the FAS-DPD chlorine test. Don't let a pool store make you think this is the same as a DPD test. You need the one with a powder.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone

 

[suep]

I've just changed my sand filter 2 weeks ago and wouldnt want to spend another $175 to the pool person to change it again. Is there any way by which i can still use this sand during and after the conversion..?..will really appreciate any suggestions...thanks

I converted from Baquacil to chlorine with a SWG 5 or 6 years ago and did not change the sand. I used Baquacil's sand filter cleaner after the conversion. It is compatible with chlorine and I have had no problems since the conversion.