I have been using Baquacil for seven years now and have had no major problems. I drained the pool 3/4's of the way four years ago due to an increase in the solids level and no other reason (grossly due to the former owners inability to add enough chemical and the proper strengths.) I am sure with any type of system, water changes are a necessary step in the regimen. Baquacil is not difficult to use and maintain. But as with any chemical, you cannot rely on just the chemicals to do all the work. You must sweep the walls and the floor faithfully, especially at start up. I also use a Dolphin to assist in cleaning the pool and it is a real labor saver. Baquacil is not cheap but I never cared for chlorine in my friends pools.
I have been using Baquacil for seven years now
- Thread starter dites
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Re: My doctor is absolutely opposed to chlorine
Welcome to TFP!
A 3/4 drain is pretty significant. Glad to hear Baq is working for you and if you run into any problems, we have a handy conversion article in pool school. FWIW, following the BBB method, water change is almost never needed, unless you live in an area with unusually hard water and that would be the case with either Baq or chlorine.
dites said:
Welcome to TFP!
A 3/4 drain is pretty significant. Glad to hear Baq is working for you and if you run into any problems, we have a handy conversion article in pool school. FWIW, following the BBB method, water change is almost never needed, unless you live in an area with unusually hard water and that would be the case with either Baq or chlorine.
Re: My doctor is absolutely opposed to chlorine
Most often when people notice something they don't like about a chlorine sanitized pool, it is the caused by improper chemistry. On the flip side, almost all baq users who switch to chlorine (maintained properly) end up gushing about how clear their water becomes and how much easier and cheaper it is.dites said:
Re: My doctor is absolutely opposed to chlorine
Yes I agree, a 3/4 drain is pretty significant. But as I said, the people we bought the house from did not maintain the pool with enough chemical and the water was getting borderline. I remember pre-purchase their daughter standing by the edge of a very cloudy pool saying. "Mommy says it'll clear up in a few weeks." I can only describe the filter that was there as a humongous blue globe with more nuts and bolts than I cared to count. Our water is pretty aggressive here. Very high silica content, not to mention they've been using river water and it smells bad coming out of the tap. Our water averages between 10-12 grains of hardness.
dmanb2b said:
Yes I agree, a 3/4 drain is pretty significant. But as I said, the people we bought the house from did not maintain the pool with enough chemical and the water was getting borderline. I remember pre-purchase their daughter standing by the edge of a very cloudy pool saying. "Mommy says it'll clear up in a few weeks." I can only describe the filter that was there as a humongous blue globe with more nuts and bolts than I cared to count. Our water is pretty aggressive here. Very high silica content, not to mention they've been using river water and it smells bad coming out of the tap. Our water averages between 10-12 grains of hardness.
Obviously not this time of year. Currently my pool cover has a layer of ice underneath. Am I ready for Spring? :-D
Re: My doctor is absolutely opposed to chlorine
Dites - welcome to the forum! Glad Baquacil is working for you, we used it for 2 years but the expense (from heavy use and reoccurring algae) finally broke me. I can confirm what Linen mentions here. I had to really sell my wife on the switch, but since - we have enjoyed clear water, lower cost and ease of use compared to the years we were on Baquacil. What I've saved in the last year allowed me to get a robot and this year we are strongly looking at a chlorine generator. With 4 kids, and heavy family/friend usage - it makes much more sense for us. If you're interested, here was my conversion thread: baqua-bbb-conversion-t42255.html
linen said:
Dites - welcome to the forum! Glad Baquacil is working for you, we used it for 2 years but the expense (from heavy use and reoccurring algae) finally broke me. I can confirm what Linen mentions here. I had to really sell my wife on the switch, but since - we have enjoyed clear water, lower cost and ease of use compared to the years we were on Baquacil. What I've saved in the last year allowed me to get a robot and this year we are strongly looking at a chlorine generator. With 4 kids, and heavy family/friend usage - it makes much more sense for us. If you're interested, here was my conversion thread: baqua-bbb-conversion-t42255.html