CONVERTING FROM BAQUA TO BBB

[SMWill42]

[Edit for link breaks:Butterfly]

I know the swim season is late for most but I still have about 6 weeks to swim in my pool. I am now beginning to switch to BBB.

I am trying to get my TA and my PH right tonight. In the morning I will be starting to add the chlorine. I am waiting on my test kit. It will be here tomorrow. Right now I only have Baqua test strips. My pool is AGP 18x33x54.

I used to use chlorine until 4 years ago when we bought a bigger pool and the pool store talked us into using Baquacil. It worked wonderful the first 2 years. Hardly any chemicals, just oxidizer and algaecide.

Last year cost me about $700 and pool was not totally clear the whole season. This year I have spent about $1400 and my pool has been clear all of 1 and 1/2 weeks max. Clear when we opened 1 week before Memorial day but to sample to pool store and added the chemicals.

The water turned gray and stayed that way until we got back from vacation at the end of July. Started working on it again and finally got it clear by Aug 10 my husbands birthday. About Aug. 20 it started getting algae. I have been treating it ever since. Brush and vacuum to waste every day, some days twice but still have algae.

In the last 2 weeks have spent well over $200 to try to control algae.

Now is time to switch back to chlorine before I go broke buying very expensive pool chemicals.

Wish me luck, Susan

I have pictures.

 

[Butterfly]

Holy cow, Susan! Good luck AND Welcome to the forum!

We'll be here to help you thru your conversion. :lol:

 

[SMWill42]

I forgot to mention my first filtration system was a cartridge filter and I thought very easy to use and keep clean although this is the first year I have had to clean my sand filter. I have had to buy two impellars for my sand filtration system. All I ever bought for my cartridge filter was new filters. I am not looking forward to cleaning out the sand since I do not have a clue as to how to do it since no instructions came with the filtration system.

I hope by now my Ph and TA are right. I just check and the Ph is 7.2, the TA is 80. I would like to have this number higher but I will wait until tomorrow to test with my new kit.

Susan

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Your pH is fine to start your conversion, and you needn't worry about TA until after you have converted!

Cleaning a sand filter is no big deal. You will only have to do this once, when your conversion is complete, and then not again for MANY years. You may be able to google the make and model of your filter and get the instructions online, or post the info here and for sure someone can help!

 

[kidsluv2swim]

Good luck Susan, and please post pictures if you can, we love conversions. :-D

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Welcome and good luck! Now the trick is to take that money you would have spent and invest it. You'll be rich before you know it AND you'll have a Trouble Free Pool.

 

[SMWill42]

I got the TF-100 test kit this morning so I rechecked the pH with it. The pH was 8.2 so I went to Home Depot, got MA, put it in about 11:30 am est. Just added the bleach at 1:00 pm est. The pH was at 7.5.[attachment=0:2htzjs3y]Picture (Pool) 066.jpg[/attachment:2htzjs3y]

Will check back latter.
Susan[attachment=0:2htzjs3y]Picture (Pool) 066.jpg[/attachment:2htzjs3y]

 

[SMWill42]

This is just an update. I started adding bleach at 1pm and checking the FC and ph. I checked and added at hourly intervals per pool calculator suggestions until FC started going up then I started checking FC and ph every hour after that but only added bleach every 2 hours until 9pm est. I backwashed the filter at 5pm and again at 9pm. Will check chemicals again in the morning. I have had a long day.

My husband came home and said the pool sure is green. I told him it was supposed to look like that but he was really skeptical. I reassured him that it would change but he wasn't too convinced. I told him I would show him pictures.

Susan

 

[JasonLion]

Good for you! You have everything moving along well!

 

[SMWill42]

Update: When I got up this morning pool was a light green. Checked chemicals and here are the readings
FC 13.5
CC 3
TA 80
pH 7.4

I know I need to add baking soda but that will raise my pH also. Question is do I add baking soda first and then the MA or do I lower pH and then raise TA :-D :-D :-D :lol: :lol:

 

[JasonLion]

TA at 80 is fine for now, and probably fine in the long run also.

It is best to leave everything except FC and PH alone until the conversion is nearly complete. Since your PH is fine, you can focus on bringing FC up to 15 at regular intervals, and don't worry about the other numbers.

Tonight you should measure the FC level 30 minutes after the final bleach addition, and then again first thing tomorrow morning before adding any chemicals. How FC changes overnight will tell you how far along in the conversion you are. Ideally you want FC to remain the same overnight, but at first it will tend to fall. How far it falls gives you a sense of how close to done you are.

 

[SMWill42]

It is now 1:15 am and I still have not gotten my FC up to 15 ppm. I just sent my daughter to Wal-Mart to get 16 more bottles. This morning or shoud I say Saturday morning when I check the FC was at 13.5. Have not bee able to go above 7 ppm since although the poo i changing colors. I am freaking out at this point about the chlorine.

Susan

 

[duraleigh]

By far, the single most common mistake on conversions and clearing algae-laden pools is underestimating just how much chlorine it takes.

Keep the faith and continue to pour in clorox until you get the FC to move upward. Rememer, the only two things that consume chlorine are sunlight and the organics in your pool. You must clear all that baqua junk out of your pool before the consumption will stop. Keep measuring and dosing and keep adding the clorox.

 

[SMWill42]

Good Morning,

When I got up this morning after finally getting my FC up to 11 last nigt at 1:30am the FC was back down to 2 but the pool is getting a blue tint :-D :-D to the water not mellow yellow green. I am
hoping when I get back from church it will look even better.

Susan

 

[SMWill42]

Hi all,

Got home from church about 3pm and went out to the pool, water is blue but there are orange/ brown spots on bottom. I need to vacuum this up and brush. I can see the bottom completely. I had my daughter putting clorine in while I was gone. FC is at 2 right now so I am going to vacuum before I add any more. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Susan

 

[SMWill42]

Hello,

My FC is finally at 15 tonight. I just hope it stays where it is by morning. I saw lots of tiny white particles floating in the water as I was vacuuming to waste, also there was a hazy film on top. Is this normal. :-D At least it is getting back to clear. The water is a hazy blue and I can actually see the bottom of the pool. I hope to be able to add some pictures tomorrow if I can get my husband to upload the pictures to his computer.

Susan

 

[Butterfly]

I saw lots of tiny white particles floating in the water as I was vacuuming to waste, also there was a hazy film on top. Is this normal. :-D At least it is getting back to clear. The water is a hazy blue and I can actually see the bottom of the pool.

Sounds normal and you are making real progress!

 

[SMWill42]

I thought that I was making progress this morning when I checked my chlorine after last nights' FC level of 15 this morning it was at 12.5. This is the highest it has stayed up. My daughter kept checking FC all morning and the lowest it got was 11.5 then we had a torrential rain storm for about an hour this afternoon. When I checked the FC it was only.5 so I added the necessary amount of bleach about 15 minutes ago. I will go and check the level again in a little while.

Pool is also overflowing. I had to backwash this morning because the pressure was up on the filter so I topped of water and then with the rain it was too much. Wish I had known it was going to rain that much today. I would not have filled it up. The rain was enough to do that and saved on my water bill.

Pool is still getting clearer but it is not there yet. Neither is the FC but I am hopeful.

 

[JasonLion]

You are doing really well, another couple of days and you will have it.

Since your FC level only fell a little overnight, I suggest you only add chlorine in the evenings. The chlorine is not all getting used up fighting baquacil, so you are losing most of it to sunlight at this point. Adding chlorine only in the evenings will take just slightly longer but it will save you a great deal of chlorine.

 

[SMWill42]

Hi All,

When I got home this afternoon I went out to check the pool. It was pretty clear. There was some sediment on the bottom but I vacuumed it out in about 15 minutes, a far cry from the normal hour to hour and a half. I could actually see the pattern on the bottom which I have not seen all summer. It is looking better every day. My husband ask if I was making this my second full time job this morning as I have been checking chemicals constantly throughout the day.

Susan[attachment=1:ufg6xkmv]Picture (Pool) 085.jpg[/attachment:ufg6xkmv][attachment=0:ufg6xkmv]Picture (Pool) 084.jpg[/attachment:ufg6xkmv]