Stuck with Baquacil

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JohnG111

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May 12, 2008
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To make a long story short,I have a 24' ft pool which I installed late Sept last year, with baquacil. Opened 2 weeks ago following the baquacil plan, and I have green cloudy water at the bottom half of the pool. Water seemed pretty good until I started filtering it (sand was still new from Sept). I'm adding all kinds of baqua stuff,( oxidizer, cdx, sanitizer, calcium) and I like the idea of the BBB and saltwater, but with the fresh introduction to the baquacil products I don't see it in my finacial future to convert this year to either one. So, I want to make this work, how do I get rid of the algae (as I'm assuming it is) with the system I've got. I hate to be stubborn, but I really want to understand what is happening, why and how it reacts to the chemicals that are introduced. I'm hoping that a systematic approach to this can lead to a lean cure.

Thanks,

John
 
Hi, John,

Welcome to the forum. The snag you'll hit is that most of us simply aren't familiar with baquacil except how to convert it to chlorine.

We are all such chlorine advocates that most of us have never experienced (successfully) maintaining a baqua pool.

Ther are a few folks here who do understand it, tho, and they should chime in soon to give you the info you need.
 
JohnG111 said:
To make a long story short,I have a 24' ft pool which I installed late Sept last year, with baquacil. Opened 2 weeks ago following the baquacil plan, and I have green cloudy water at the bottom half of the pool. Water seemed pretty good until I started filtering it (sand was still new from Sept). I'm adding all kinds of baqua stuff,( oxidizer, cdx, sanitizer, calcium) and I like the idea of the BBB and saltwater, but with the fresh introduction to the baquacil products I don't see it in my finacial future to convert this year to either one. So, I want to make this work, how do I get rid of the algae (as I'm assuming it is) with the system I've got. I hate to be stubborn, but I really want to understand what is happening, why and how it reacts to the chemicals that are introduced. I'm hoping that a systematic approach to this can lead to a lean cure.
Click to expand...

You can filter 24/7 and dump in twice as much of the Baquacil oxidizer as what they tell you (every 2 weeks instead of monthly) and switch to the high performance Baq. algaecide, and you MIGHT be able to fend it off a little longer. Might.

But, honestly, I don't think there is a "lean cure" if you stay on Baquacil. I was on it for 6 years. After the second year I had to continuously run the filter and still my water was cloudy. After the third or forth year I had to increase my dosage of Oxidizer and switch to the high performance algaecide. Eventually not even that was working and they had me add the CDX. Then even on the CDX I got pink slime and that convinced me to do the conversion last summer. So glad I did. Thinking about all the money I spent on Baq. products is sickening, not to mention the power bills from filtering 24/7 for 4 summers.
 
From what I have read you can do baquacil year after year without serious problems if you replace 50% of your water every year, replace the filter media every year, and maintain proper levels of both PHMB and peroxide at all times. However, given how much it costs it isn't clear to me why you would want to do that.
 
If you want a realistic example of what you are up against, scan through the entire thread of my conversion Mark's Conversion

I fully understand that you feel you are caught between a rock and a hard place, having just invested $$ into opening with Baquacil. We had "started" by adding some oxidizer and sanitizer earlier this spring before taking the plunge into a full-blown conversion. Because we had higher levels of baqua in the system, it probably took longer and required more chlorine than most.

Some of the math I went through

everytime I went to the pool store for a bottle of Baqua oxidizer, sanitizer, and algicide = $75. To really do the program justice, I think I'd be into a bottle of sanitizer at least once/week, and oxidizer say twice a month, throw in some algicide every now and then - I'm up to say $300/month. This gets me water that tests "good" on the Baqua strips - but still lacks that clarity we all desire.....so....run the #$$% filter pump forever hoping it clears up. Oh wait - now the pool guy says here's some "filter aid" ($20) - it clears it up fine, but now I've got to replace my cartridges (another $200).

This pretty much sums up our summer of 2007 - probably count on two hands the total days of swim time we got.

I think I'm up to about $500 total so far for my conversion - cost of Chlorine (10% solution at Lowe's), test kit, and a new set of filter cartridges waiting to be installed once I purge the goo from my system. I'm not planning on needing to replace them for some time.

yes, I will need to add bleach throughout the summer, but I figure with the filter cartridges I'm NOT replacing alone, I can buy a lot of bleach; plus I get the added benefit of being able to use my pool.

you may decide to carry on this summer since you've already committed, but the more you read, you will probably decide to do the conversion to chlorine; maybe not this summer but somewhere down the road

good luck
may the force be with you 8)
 
I am about 3/4 of the way through my conversion from Baq on my 24 ft round pool. I opened the pool with the intension of converting so I had lower levels of Baq than you do. I've spent $66 on Chlorine so far. Last year, my first full year on Baq, I was putting 2 gal of oxidizer in a week. BIG $$$ plus CDX and all the other gunk they said to toss in. I had sheets of pink slim under my wedding cake stairs that floated out like ghosts across the pool. My hoses from the pool to the pump were completely pink inside. They (pool store) actually told me to pour oxidizer into the skimmer slowly to try to get rid of it - but to be careful because it could oxidize too fast and explode. That's when I found this web site and decided to convert to CL. I encourage you to do the same regardless of how much Baq you currently have in the pool. You simply don't know what might happen this summer. You might be tossing money, I mean oxidizer in your pool at 2 gal/week too and still not have a sanitary pool. It might take you a couple of weeks and cost 200 dollars but you will come out far ahead with a cleaner, less expensive pool to maintain. My pool right now today is clearer than it has ever been period. I guess I'm now an official convert as I'm preaching the benefits of CL.

Russ
 
If you're still up for some reading after Mark's Conversion, here's my story:
Todd's Conversion
Even though I started my conversion at the beginning of the season, I had TERRIBLE pink slime at the end of last season and could tell I still had it after the winter. Even though I used the Baquacil (including CDX and whatever else they told me to) for the previous two seasons (the life of the pool), I had an awful time last year...and all anyone can tell me is that it's 'environmental' and if/when the slime/mold/whatever comes to your area, you're going to fight it, if you have Baquacil.

That said, I spent a considerable amount of time and money converting to BBB, and I even threw on a salt water generator while I was at it, but it was well worth it, IMO. We got in the pool Saturday and enjoyed clear water, were able to open our eyes underwater, etc. and didn't have to contend with murky, nasty water...if the pool stays this clear (and I have no reason to believe otherwise, with the support of this forum), it was definitely worth the conversion, even if you have Baquacil product still in your shed (as I did).

If you're like me, you want to hang on to whatever you have going, because you're used to it, so I can understand if you're hesitant to convert, especially with money invested in opening the pool this season. I would just read the forum, ask questions and think about it. I'm thankful that I did.
 
I would recommend converting now even if you have a lot invested a lot in the Baquacil. In the long run you will be money ahead. My first year using Baquacil was fine. The next year half way through the swim season I started having problems and the pool store was absolutely no help. I was putting in a gallon of oxidizer a day just to keep the pool clear and buying everything else the pool store could think of and it didn't do any good. I spent more than $1000 in one month on baqua Crud, changing my sand, etc. and it didn't help. I also had to run my filter 24/7 and my electric bill was huge. I thought switching to chlorine would be such a hassle that I switched to Baquacil Ultra for one more season. It was a little better, but not much and even more expensive.

I converted to chlorine and put in a salt water generator at the start of the season last year and I am very happy. If you want to keep things simple get a salt water generator. They are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the baqua is once you start having problems.
 

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OK,OK,OK, I Give, the horror stories, the money, the kids staring at me from the sidelines wondering when the h*** I will be done jackin with this pool. I'll research the previous strings and see what it takes to begin the "conversion". The final straw is the algae. I mean it overnight, kaboom, man it's emerald, and it didn't happen until I put the CDX as suggested, and with another 50 buck for algae killer which seemed to only make it worse. I willing to give this a shot, I look forward to everyone's help as I'll be confidently tell my wife it's in the bag, but internally I'm having an attack. :?
 
You won't regret it. I promise.

Our pool was unswimmable for the majority of last year thanks to Baquacrap. I started coverting on May 1st and I did have a small heart attack when the pool turned baby
poop yellow but everyone here said "keep going".

Now it's two weeks later and my pool is clear sparkling blue. I wish I found this site 3 yrs ago. We would have started with BBB and I'd be a thousand dollars richer.
 
PLUS, it will really freak with your wife when you ask her "Honey, could you get a 12-lb. bag of baking soda when you go out," or Borax, or whatever. I asked mine to pick up some 20 Mule Team yesterday and she said "What's that for, I don't use that?"
And I got that look that I've gotten for the past 6 weeks or so since I began converting to BBB...but at least now she follows up with "I wish you'd met these people two years ago."
Funny! :lol:
 
The conversion process is fairly straightforward, but the water can look really frightening while it is going on.

Basically, you adjust your PH to between 7.2 and 7.4. Then add bleach to bring the FC level up to 15 over and over again as frequently as you can, up to once per hour. When the FC level holds stead overnight and the CC level is reasonably low you replace your filter media (sand, cartridge, grids/fingers) and then add CYA. The total quantity of bleach required varies from pool to pool. 100 gallons seems to be about average, though I have heard of much lower and much higher. You will need a FAS-DPD chlorine test, available in the TF Test Kit and the Taylor K-2006 and also available separately.
 
Don't have a heart attack! This is easy. I know, famous last words. I started my conversion last Tuesday night and by Sunday morning my FC held at 15 ppm overnight and my pool water was sparkeling clear. My total chlorine consumption was: 1 5gal jug of 12.5% chlorine and 17 jugs of 6% bleach. The colors went from a milky, yellowy almost light chocolate milkshake brown Wednesday morning to light yellow, minty yellow, aqua green, aqua blue to blue! The first time I was able to see the bottom alittle bit was Sat am, then overnight I was completely clear! I took the week off and was able to test the water every hour to two hours and keep the level at 15 ppm pretty good. I think that is what made the difference in time of conversion. Also, you have to brush the walls and floor and vacuum! Once I did alot of that on Saturday, the results jumped. You can do this and you will not be sorry!

A true believer! Deb
 
With so many conversions lately, I figure it's only a matter of time before the Baquacil lawyers find this site and try to shut it down. You know they've got the bankroll and enough blood sucking, pink slime lawers to conquer anything.
 
JohnG111,

And, when you do start the conversion, take lots of pictures and post them on this thread. I don't know what it is but we LOVE seeing those Baq conversion pictures! :-D
 

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