Converting after following terrible advice

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scott407 said:
I'm hoping to only break the filter down once at the end when I completely replace the sand.
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The only problem is, and this is very much an unknown in the Baquacil conversion process, is that a sand filter can potentially hold an enormous amount of oxidized baqua-goop. We often see conversions that linger on and on and on with clear water but elevated CCs and an OCLT above 1ppm. This is where the frustration phase comes in because the filter sand hasn't been changed yet and there's likely a lot of trapped gunk in the filter. Backwashing is not powerful enough to remove it and, if the sand is channeled from all the gunk holding it together, you'd never know that the filter is the problem.

Opening up the sand filter to deep clean it gives an indication of what's trapped inside it. You're not removing the sand per se, just sticking a garden hose into the sand bed (carefully) to see what comes up. Knowing if there are any decomposing solids in the filter could potentially avoid another costly drain because, if you drain the pool but don't rectify the filter, you'll be right back where you started. My suggestion to deep clean the filter was to get a bird's eye view of what's in there.

This is all entirely up to you. If it's just becoming frustrating and expensive, then you should simply drain the pool, refill with fresh water and change out the filter sand (and clean the filter out really well) then deal with a possible elevated chlorine loss during the season. Pools normally loss about 2-4ppm FC per day but if your partial drain leaves some residual baqua product behind, you can expect that FC loss to be higher.

At this point, flocculation will not do anything for you. Flocculation removes fine particulates and your water is clear by all accounts. Flocculants also require fairly specific pH and hardness levels so trying to execute a flocc when the water is still so far out of balance is really not a good idea.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
The only problem is, and this is very much an unknown in the Baquacil conversion process, is that a sand filter can potentially hold an enormous amount of oxidized baqua-goop. We often see conversions that linger on and on and on with clear water but elevated CCs and an OCLT above 1ppm. This is where the frustration phase comes in because the filter sand hasn't been changed yet and there's likely a lot of trapped gunk in the filter. Backwashing is not powerful enough to remove it and, if the sand is channeled from all the gunk holding it together, you'd never know that the filter is the problem.

Opening up the sand filter to deep clean it gives an indication of what's trapped inside it. You're not removing the sand per se, just sticking a garden hose into the sand bed (carefully) to see what comes up. Knowing if there are any decomposing solids in the filter could potentially avoid another costly drain because, if you drain the pool but don't rectify the filter, you'll be right back where you started. My suggestion to deep clean the filter was to get a bird's eye view of what's in there.

This is all entirely up to you. If it's just becoming frustrating and expensive, then you should simply drain the pool, refill with fresh water and change out the filter sand (and clean the filter out really well) then deal with a possible elevated chlorine loss during the season. Pools normally loss about 2-4ppm FC per day but if your partial drain leaves some residual baqua product behind, you can expect that FC loss to be higher.

At this point, flocculation will not do anything for you. Flocculation removes fine particulates and your water is clear by all accounts. Flocculants also require fairly specific pH and hardness levels so trying to execute a flocc when the water is still so far out of balance is really not a good idea.
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Sand from deep clean. Not a lot of big clumping. Just a little clumping that is too heavy to be lifted out with the water. I had to feel around and pull those pieces out
0c65ae5418ebd524a1f7693c8bb4ce02.jpg
 
Looks like cream-of-wheat :pukel:

Flushing out anything that is not sand along with breaking up big clumps will help. Some people use a wooden spoon to gently break up big chunks very carefully so as to not damage the laterals.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Looks like cream-of-wheat :pukel:

Flushing out anything that is not sand along with breaking up big clumps will help. Some people use a wooden spoon to gently break up big chunks very carefully so as to not damage the laterals.
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Update after filter deep clean and another partial drain and replace
f029cdf57822d78a74555b05721a2f71.jpg
 
Hey, I know that color!!!

In the morning (or tonight if you wish) can you do a full set of tests and post them here. Please include
pH
TA
CYA
FC
CC

From there we'll see what's our next step. Congrats on blue......I feel something awesome is in your near future!!
 
Leebo said:
Hey, I know that color!!!

In the morning (or tonight if you wish) can you do a full set of tests and post them here. Please include
pH
TA
CYA
FC
CC

From there we'll see what's our next step. Congrats on blue......I feel something awesome is in your near future!!
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Morning reading

PH 7.8

TA 120

FC 23.5

CC 1.0

CYA 20

CH 100
 
Those numbers look awesome! Let’s let things sit for now and I’ll checkup with you this afternoon to figure out our next action. For now, enjoy a beverage and do some reading. You may want to brush up on the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test as I suspect it’ll be in your best interest to do one tonight.
 
Leebo said:
Those numbers look awesome! Let’s let things sit for now and I’ll checkup with you this afternoon to figure out our next action. For now, enjoy a beverage and do some reading. You may want to brush up on the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test as I suspect it’ll be in your best interest to do one tonight.
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Last night I started at FC 25
 

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domct203 said:
That pool is looking awesome!

Losing only 1.5ppm of FC overnight is very encouraging.

Great job so far!!
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That is probably not the most accurate reading since the night reading was taken while I was still filling the pool. I added about an inch of water between readings.

I plan to get a good oclt tonight.

Thanks to everyone for the advise and help. I was on the ledge a couple of times.
 
scott407 said:
That is probably not the most accurate reading since the night reading was taken while I was still filling the pool. I added about an inch of water between readings.

I plan to get a good oclt tonight.

Thanks to everyone for the advise and help. I was on the ledge a couple of times.
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In a pool your size that’s probably about 1.5% of the pool volume.

As an example, a 40 ft x 20 ft x 66 inch deep pool holds about 33K gallons. One inch of depth is approx 500 gallons (33000/66), or about 1.5% (500/33000).

That 1.5% added to the total volume will be negligible.

Keep up the hard work, you’ll be passing an OCLT soon. Just don’t be discouraged if it’s not this weekend.
 
I wouldn’t worry about trying to keep the FC up all day. With such low levels of stabilizer the sun light is going to eat up more of the FC than any residual Baquacil will. As Lee said, go have fun doing something else and hit up the pool at sundown. My suggestion would be to let the FC come down to 15ppm and then dose the pool to that level before bedtime. Then, tomorrow morning measure it again before sunrise. If you are 1ppm or less, then it’s time to change the sand and move on to the final balancing steps.

Good luck.
 
So let’s try this tonight Scott,

Once the sun goes down increase your FC to 15ppm. With the pump running wait about a few minutes and retest. Then test again in the morning. Let’s see what happens.
 
A 1.5ppm loss is awesome! Seeing the drop in the CC’s is also very promising. Today do two things
1. Brush the heck out of the pool today. Pay special attention to cracks and crevices where Baqua likes to hide. Around the steps, lights, skimmers, and returns are places that the last bit of Goo hangs out at.
2. Enjoy a few more beverages.
 
domct203 said:
Save your pH reagent, with your FC above 10 the pH is not accurate.

Also, why did you dose so far above 15ppm?

You are definitely close, keep at it!

Happy Easter!
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I didn't add any chlorine last night. It's still coming down from when I set it at 30 to see how much biguanide was left in the pool.

Just for reference.

After getting my test kit I've used about 6.5 gallons of 10% bleach. I drained and replaced twice (around 3/4 of pool volume.
 

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