Cloudy water - PLEASE HELP

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star51

star51

0
Sep 23, 2011
11
Bourbonnais, Illinois
Five days ago I have found the cloudy water in my pool. It was cloudy with some greenish color.
I took a water sample to the pool store to see what the problem was. Everything was normal. The results are below:
• Baquacil Sanitizer and Algistat – 37 ppm
• Baquacil Oxidizer – 90 (I don’t know units)
• TA – 105 ppm
• pH – 7.79
• Calcium Hardness – 180 ppm

I made small adjustment for Baquacil Sanitizer and Algistat and added the Baquacil flocculant dissolved in water to the pool. I had pump running for 2 hrs, then turned it off for 24 hrs.
In 24 hrs, I have found some "clouds" of white particles that have settled on the bottom. I tried to vacuum them as gentle as I could but most of them have returned back to water (they were not heavy enough). The haze did not disappear.

I have added 1.5 gal of oxidizer and 2,5 pt of CDX – no result again.

I went back to the store for another test:
• Baquacil Sanitizer and Algistat – 31 ppm
• Baquacil Oxidizer – 115 (I don’t know units)
• TA – 61 ppm
• pH – 7.32
• Calcium Hardness – 120 ppm

I have added TA+ and Calcium+

Today I can see the bottom looking directly into the pool. I cannot see it from a distance like I could before. However, the bottom is visible - just very cloudy! No GREEN – this I probably only one accomplishment. The photo is attached.

I am leaning towards converting to chlorine, but want to do it after this swimming season – in Illinois the summer is too short especially this year.

Please advise what I should do to use my pool this year safely.
Sorry for such a long post.
Best regards
 

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That looks about normal from what I have seen of Baq pools on this forum ... those posts are usually followed by a conversion thread since they are tired of the expense and the cloudy water.

I am not sure what to suggest chemically, but might suggest checking that the filter is working properly.
 
star51,

Probably not many of us to help with baquacil on this forum. It is not a sanitizer held in very high regard.

Lot's of us can help convert the pool to a chlorine pool but that's not what you're asking, I know.
 
Sorry I missed this thread.....worked all weekend, and let this slip by me somehow.

The first thing that jumps out is your low Sanitizer and Algistat levels. Baquacil suggest keeping it between 40-50 at all times. Letting this level drop is an invitation for algae. Algae is what's causing your cloudy water I'm sure. Almost always cloudy water is a sure fire sign that there's stuff living in the water trying for an outbreak. Your filter may/may not be an issue, but I would surely start with the water chemistry first.

I would at this point avoid the floc products, as with my experience I've never had any luck with them. A few times they worked out....often it all just stay's cloudy as you stated. Start with adding enough sanitizer to raise your levels to 50. For the life of me I can't remember how much they suggest, so follow the guides on bottle. After that add 25 ounces of the Performance Algicide and run the pump for about an hour while brushing. Then add another gallon of oxidizer....and let run for 24 hours. After that re-evaluate the water color. After that keep the sanitizer at 50ishPPM and add the weekly level of algicide.

A quick question for you......
How many years have you used Baqua without a full drain of the water??
 
Leebo,

Thank you for the response,

I am using Baquacil since 2011 without replacing a water.

A couple questions based on your response:

" After that add 25 ounces of the Performance Algicide ( is this another chemical BAQUACIL® Performance Algicide in addition to BAQUACIL Sanitizer and Algistat that I use to get the sanitizer up to 50ppm?) ...After that keep the sanitizer at 50ishPPM and add the weekly level of algicide (using BAQUACIL® Performance Algicide or BAQUACIL Sanitizer and Algistat?)."

If it is a white mold, how harmful it is to the skin?

Best regards,
star51
 
There are three products that "work together" to help maintain a clean Baqua pool.

1. The sanitizer and algistat. This is the key when maintaining a Baqua pool. Let this get low and you'll end up with cloudy water. It works as an algicide making it harder for algae to grow. It doesn't kill really anything.....but makes it so it won't grow. This is what you'll want to use to help raise your sanitizer levels up to the 50ppm level, and maintain it.

2. The Baqua Oxidizer is what does the killing. This is hydrogen peroxide based (rather than chlorine) and will get consumed by the algae/sun just as chlorine would. When cleaning a Baqua pool this is the key chemical to use. Often we had major clearup's after one dose....but would often drift right back to cloudy water.

3. The Performance Algicide is another product to slow the growth of the algae. This is a Poly 60 based algicide that is the only algicide that is suggested by the forum. This was just another "insurance plan" that is put into place by Baquacil to help keep algae from starting to grow. Doesn't really kill anything.....but keeps it from starting up again once you're finished.


The trick with a Baquacil pool is to keep it clean 120% of the time. Once you start to get green/cloudy water it's a pain to get it clean again. Water, heat, heavy use, power outages, ext all were a pain to deal with whenever the occur. Often we just said forget it and swam in the dirty water.....and never had any issues. Looked like crud however, and cost even more. To the best of my knowledge, white mold isn't a harm to humans but is a pain to clear up. This is a reason why I asked about the length of time you have used Baquacil. Over time white water mold CAN become resistant to Baqua, and the only real way to fix is a total drain/change media/ and refill. Often however users don't really have mold....but have cloudy water. Is it really slimy in the skimmer, and bits of tissue paper appear to be floating around your pool??

Or just plan on swapping to chlorine next year. :D
 

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Well I see I missed you, so I'll write out my suggestions.......

Being in Ill I'm guessing you only have maybe 1 or 2 more months' of swim season left this year. Switching next year will make the conversion the easiest and cheapest as your Baqua levels will be lower. Many users have finished the swap in under a week, for around $100 in bleach. You'll need to finish out this year however with Baqua, and depending on how many products you have on hand your cost could rack up quickly. If you have several bottles of Baqua products on hand (and your pool store won't exchange them for a credit) then it maybe cheaper and easier to do the swap next year.

If however you'll need to purchase a ton of Baqua to finish out the year, just to convert next year, I'd suggest a swap right away. You'll spend more in bleach for the conversion.....but should save by not needing to purchase more Baqua. The conversion will take a good two weeks, most of which the pool will look like garbage and will not be OK to swim in. After that however the rest of the year will be clear water, easy closing, and hopefully an easy opening.
 
Thank you Leebo,
I will probably do the conversion next spring - I don't want to steal two weeks of swimming from my family.
I'll follow your recommendations to keep water as clean as possible.
I may have some questions about conversion later. I am trying to decide whether to use SWG or just chemicals. But it will be later (I need to know more before asking questions).
Thanks again,
Star51
 
I am not not an SWG or B-Goo expert but have read many of these conversion threads. One common theme about choosing what chlorination method you want to use "after" the conversion is the fact the until you are 100% converted, and 100% balanced, you should use 100% liquid chlorine to chlorinate the pool. So, you will get very good at managing your CL jugs.
 
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