Baqua to Chlorine conversion with cya of 40.

[Uckybay]

I have a 14600g above ground pool with a 250lb Hayward sand filter. The water currently has a cya level of 40. I want to convert to chlorine, but I am concerned about the cya in the pool. I haven't added any baquacil/cdx since October of last year. Not sure why my cya is at the level it is, but that is what I got. I am using a brand new tf-pro test kit.

What kind of extended nonsense am I looking at dealing with since there is cya in water, or is it going to make that much of a difference? Time is not a real issue. Looks like at least a couple of weeks until we might have decent swimming weather.

I have plenty of Walmart liquid chlorine here ready to go, just a bit nervous.

 

[PoolStored]

Welcome to TFP!!!

This is a must read for you and will guide your every step in conversion:

Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine

This Step-by-step guide will help you transform your pool from Biguanide (Baquacil, SoftSwim hereafter referred to as Baqua) to chlorine. Read more

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Uckybay]

Thanks. I've read that several times and I have read other threads of folks going through the process. I have a pretty good handle on what is required to do the conversion, but I'm unsure if I need to take extra steps or if I am simply dealing with an extended time period due to the cya already being in the pool. Everything I've read says to add cya after the conversion is over... I haven't seen anything about what will happen if the cya is already in the water.

 

[JamesW]

Just ignore the CYA.

 

[Uckybay]

Excellent. I was hoping that would be the answer. The battle will begin tomorrow evening.

 

[JamesW]

Good luck!

 

[PoolStored]

 

[Uckybay]

I got started a little earlier than I expected. Here is what it looks like after most of the day with me checking the FC level and topping up every hour. I should have taken a "before" pic and one a short while later when everything had turned green. Now it's a blueish color and quite cloudy.

 

[Uckybay]

Cleared up a little bit today. I can barely see the brush in the bottom of the pool

 

[Uckybay]

16 gallons of 10% pool bleach into this, and no end in sight yet. I can get the level of chlorine to 15 in the morning before I go to work, but when I get home it's down to 0. The sun has been out bright for the past two days so that is part of the chlorine loss I think. I put the solar cover on the pool this evening so I hope to lessen the breakdown of the chlorine in the sun. Water is still cloudy, but it no longer turns colors when I dump the chlorine in.

 

[mknauss]

From the article on Baqua Conversion:
Test your water frequently and add the appropriate amount of bleach to get back up to 15ppm. Do this as often as possible, as often as every hour if you can, but at least once a day.

Going to take a while doing it once or twice a day.

 

[Uckybay]

Looks like I'm in it for the long haul then. I'll keep a close eye on it during the weekends, but I can only manage a few times per day during the week since 10-12 hours per day are spent at work/commute. During the week I'm adding 3 times - in the morning before I go to work, when I get home from work, and right before I go to bed.

 

[Texas Splash]

I can only manage a few times per day during the week since 10-12 hours per day are spent at work/commute.

That's tough. Reading your thread, you never exchanged water did you?

 

[Newdude]

I'll keep a close eye on it during the weekends

Go late into the night. Once the sun goes down you won't lose any FC to it and every little bit helps.

 

[Uckybay]

That's tough. Reading your thread, you never exchanged water did you?

I didn't change it. But there should have been quite a bit of volume turned over with all of the rain last fall / winter.

 

[Uckybay]

It is starting to look better. I think I will do an overnight chlorine loss test tonight to see where it stands.

 

[Uckybay]

Overnight chlorine loss of 6 points. Sheesh...

 

[Texas Splash]

Overnight chlorine loss of 6 points. Sheesh...

Yeah, the conversion will test your fortitude, especially since no water exchange was performed ahead of time. Still, you can do it. Water looks much better. Are you able to hang around that 15 ppm level?

 

[Uckybay]

I am until the sun gets high in the sky, then I might as well be dumping the chlorine down the drain. Seems like everyday was gloomy and overcast until I started this process. Now it's nothing but blue skies and a UV index of 7+ for days...

 

[Uckybay]

And I've measured 31.5" of rain since October, so that should have turned over some of the water. Very little snow to speak of this past winter though.

I'll get it there eventually. Hopefully sometime before I run out of testing supplies.