Baquacil Conversion

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Things are going well. The pool is clearer than I have ever seen it. There's a little torpedo toy that has been in the deep end unnoticed for at least 2 years. My main problem now is the sand in the pool. I vacuumed out some this morning, but it's hard to get because it gets stuck in the hose and eventually fills the skimmer basket. I also noticed that after I vaccumed to waste and backwashed the filter that there was some sand comming out of the returns. I don't know if this means that there is something wrong with the filter or normal for trying to get out sand.

Friday afternoon: http://i.imgur.com/ZacuF.jpg
Saturday at noon: http://i.imgur.com/XIERK.jpg
 
Things are progressing, but they seem to be slowing down. I vacuumed the rest of the sand out today. I think I got most of what was left. We stayed on top of the FC, checking every couple of hours. So, except for a leaf or two, the pool is clean. We're just waiting for it to finish clearing up. When I brush, I can still stir up some little white floaters.

Day 7 at night: http://i.imgur.com/0lYwi.jpg
 
Keep on it, with the sand filter it sometimes takes a bit to get all the goop out. How are your numbers? Are the FCs coming down as fast? How about the CCs? When I did my conversion, it did similar to what you're seeing, quick progression in the beginning, then slowed as the pool cleared.
 
This morning FC 14, CC 1.5. It may have been slightly clearer, but I wouldn't swear to it. We got a fair amount of rain over night, and I could see that a couple of leaves had collected on the main drain.
 
Sounds like you're getting closer. My last drop from 1.5 to .5 CC took forever - but I think it was because I wasn't as "thorough" as I should have been in my scrubbing. From where I started, to where I ended - It was quite an education on pool ownership.
illpwr said:
...I could see that a couple of leaves had collected on the main drain.
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That's a good sign :-D that the pool is clear enough to see leaves on the main drain
 
WOW - that's a lot of sand.

If you want to be certain the filter isn't leaking sand back into the pool you can put socks or hose on the returns with rubber bands and check them for debris after a day or two.
 
UnderWaterVanya said:
WOW - that's a lot of sand.

If you want to be certain the filter isn't leaking sand back into the pool you can put socks or hose on the returns with rubber bands and check them for debris after a day or two.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I would guess it's around 40 pounds of sand. There are 300 in the filter. I will try your sock idea. So far, I have not noticed any more sand collecting at the bottom. The only exception was right after I vacuumed a lot of sand up (to waste) before we decided to scoop it out. I think there may have been some left in the plumbing. Is there a particular time -- like after backwashing -- that sand is more likely to come back into the pool? I think that that is older sand because it is white. The sand I added was grey in color, more like normal beach sand. I think it got sucked out bottom of the stand pipe, which was open for some reason. I capped it when I took the old sand out and disassembled the filter.
 
Well, we're getting closer.

After work we tested to get FC=7.5, CC=1. I then vacuumed up the leaves at the bottom and got a little bit of sand that I missed earlier. The main drain is clearer than I have ever seen it. Though, I think there is still a little room for the water to clear. I think that we will try the OCLT tonight and see how it goes. We haven't been doing a second test to get accurate readings (just dosing based on the pool calculator), but if you believe that our FC is 15 then we have been losing less than 1ppm of FC overnight. Though I have noticed that our FC values are usually higher than the pool calculator predicts. I may have the volume estimate wrong.

The weather has changed here in the last week. It is raining more (after not raining all summer), and the heat has broken. I'm hoping that we have a chance to swim before it gets too cold.

Day 8: http://i.imgur.com/jWEVA.jpg
 

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Yes, you are very close but I predict you will get even clearer over the next few days. Get rid of any physical debris remaining in the pool.......It consumes chlorine and may prevent you from passing the OCLT. Nice work! :goodjob:
 
I stopped home and checked the levels over lunch today. FC=5, CC=1 (barely, it almost turned after 1 drop). I topped up the FC levels, hoping to finish this conversion slightly faster. I also brushed the sides in the deep end, which stirred up a small amount of white "dust". It is definitely clearer than yesterday. The deep end is not quite perfectly clear, but I can now count the screws in the main drain from standing at the side of the pool. Compared to baq this is better than I could have done spending thousands of dollars and many hours of labor.

[attachment=0:jd04yfjc]small_day9_overview.jpg[/attachment:jd04yfjc]
Daytime overview on day 9

[attachment=1:jd04yfjc]small_day9_maindrain.jpg[/attachment:jd04yfjc]
Main drain on day 9 (there's a leaf on it in the picture)
 

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So close! Looks fantastic, the clarity has really improved. Wait until its fully complete and you will be amazed at how crystal clear your pool is. My wife still just stops and looks at me sometimes and says, "it's amazing how clear that pool is, just beautiful". Its a pretty proud moment, and all thanks to the tfp.com crew!

Looks like you're in the home streach, time to bring it in :)
 
Keeping at it. The FC had dropped to 1 by the time we tested it this afternoon (around 7), so we backwashed, topped up the chlorine, and I vacuumed the pool. I got the last of the sand out. There were a couple of small spots of "tissue paper" on the side. I hope the end is near. The CC has been consistently around 1 for the past couple of days. I hope it drops to 0.5 soon.

[attachment=0:n3b9zada]small_day9_night.jpg[/attachment:n3b9zada]
Day 9 at night

Update: We just measured FC=12, CC=0.5 (yay!). We'll see how the OCLT goes.
 

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Well, I ran the OCLT, but I don't trust the results. For some reason, the FC I got this morning is higher than the value from last night. I don't understand how this is possible. I made three tests this morning, and every single one was higher than the test we made last night. So, either my wife got up and dosed the pool without recording the measurements she made, or I need to wait more than 1hr to make the test after adding bleach at night.

Update: My wife didn't test or dose this morning, so it must be that our test from last night was off for some reason.
 
Well, we'll give the OCLT a go again tonight. Hopefully we won't be plagued by measurement error.

I cleaned a couple of spots on the pool. Namely, the skimmer housing had a film on a lot of its parts, and behind the light was super gross. There was a lot of algae and who knows what living back there. I brushed it out and cleaned the light as best I could with bleach water. Hopefully, that will help us hit CC=0.5.

We did swim around some after work, so I hope that doesn't mess things up too much. I used the opportunity to check the corners underwater, and stir up any dirt I found (not much -- except for behind the light). It was probably the last day approaching 90 degrees that we'll get this year.

After dinner, we vacuumed, back washed, and tested the chlorine levels: FC=14.5, CC=1.5. I assume the CC is killing that algae I stired up.

Here are the photos from this evening:
[attachment=0:1l42hjec]small_day10_sside.jpg[/attachment:1l42hjec]

[attachment=1:1l42hjec]small_day10_nside.jpg[/attachment:1l42hjec]
 

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We passed the OCLT last night. FC was 14.5 when we went to bed, and it was 14.5 when we tested this morning. The CC went from 1.5 to 1.0 overnight. I think that after getting the gunk behind the light and inside the skimmer the rest of the gunk is going to be in the filter and in the pipes. I think I'll stop by Menards and get some filter sand on the way home tonight.

The water hasn't disappeared completely yet, but it's starting to.

Just for kicks, here's a picture of the main drain I took this morning:
[attachment=0:3qne6mif]small_day10_morning_drain.jpg[/attachment:3qne6mif]
Maybe it fascinates me because it has been very rare to see it for the past 3 years.
 

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