New Pool Owner - Baqua -> Salt - drain the pool a bit?

[rymos]

Hi All,

Very excited to be a new owner of a house with a 24' x 48" round pool. It's currently treated with Baquacil and we are converting to Salt. I've read lots of pool school, and forum topics about the conversion to salt and i think i have a grasp on the proper steps thanks to the awesome documentation on the site.

Living in the northeast, previous owners closed the pool in the fall, and i'm preparing to open it to begin the conversion. They closed the pool by taking out 1/4 of the water, threw some pillows in and covered it. Prior to conversion to salt, should i drain the pool a bit more and fill it with tap water to help speed up the process of removing the baquacil or should i just fill the pool back up to operating range and start the conversion?

Thanks!

 

[Mr Bruce]

Welcome to TFP!

Have you seen the conversion article? Pool School - Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP!

The conversion process will go faster with less baqua left in the pool, so if you drain down to about 1 foot of water in the pool that would speed things up. If the previous owner used any CDX product in the pool then I strongly suggest doing this as that stuff can really lengthen the process. If they just used the standard baqua products though then it is optional but will save some time and chlorine.

Be sure to follow the baqua to chlorine conversion process completely before starting to work on salt. I wouldn't even plumb the salt cell in until all the baqua has been eliminated, you have changed the filter media, and you are running a clear chlorine pool.

 

[rymos]

Mr. Bruce - I have and I'm gathering all the test kits and materials to prepare.

Donldson - That makes a bunch of sense. I don't know if they used CDX products, but why take the chance, i'll just drain it.

Thank you both for the responses!