Which is faster conversion time-- BBB or SWG?

[TBWB]

I've been reading this site for a week now, and can I just say that I'm really impressed by all your knowledge and encouragement for everyone making a conversion. We have been trying to decide if it would be faster to convert to the BBB method or if we should just suck it up and pay the money now to have the pool converted to saltwater. Leslie's is offering a good rebate on their Salt Water chlorinators right now, so I feel like it's a good time to convert. My husband and I keep going back and forth on this and meanwhile our pool just keeps getting greener by the day. During prime swimming time too.

I'm hoping to get the water cleared up by July 9th for a party we are having. Any thoughts on time frames for both conversions? Is it possible to get it done that fast? That is 12 days away.

Is the conversion to saltwater longer than BBB?

I'm totally new to all this so please bear with me. We just bought this house 6 weeks ago and this pool maintenance is way more than we bargained for. We are 100% sure that we will NOT be staying with Baquacil, though. After dropping about $500 into the pool during our first month in the house and still fighting algae and cloudiness so thick we can't see our feet in the shallow end we are DONE with that.



We haven't added any chemicals in over two weeks, and here is what it looks like today:

I tested with my dinky little Walmart test kit and it's showing 0 chlorine levels. I plan to order a good test kit tonight and hopefully it will arrive soon so I can get down to business either way.

 

[rsharp]

you deff. need a good test kit.. 12 days is plenty of time if you know what your doing... i would reccomend taking a water sample to the pool store so u will have a starting point. i use BBB method and once you get your pool clear its very inexpensive to operate. ive seen on here where people get SWG's and they still have problems getting their water clear. have you read pool school. lots of good info on there. get to know your chemicals. once you know what each chemical does it a lot easier to maintain your pool.
i would start by shocking your pool. go to the pool school tab and scroll down until you see "how to shock your pool"
its hard to know when your at shock level if you dont have a good test kit.
hopefully someone more expierienced will help u out, but i would deffinatley start here. im always on here if u have questions!

 

[NCFlyersFan]

Conversion to BBB or SWG will both take the same amount of time. In either case you need to add bleach to 15 ppm chlorine and continue adding bleach to maintain 15 ppm through the conversion. I highly recommend following the directions for a conversion in the pool school articles. If you are aggressive, and strive to maintain 15 ppm chlorine during the conversion, you should be able to finish in time for your party. The key is maintaining that 15 ppm chlorine level to oxidize the baq. You will also need to replace the sand in your filter towards the end of the conversion. Here is a pretty good shopping list (in no particular order):

1. About 50 gallons of bleach. Yes, 50 gallons. Your first addition alone will be about 6 gallons. It may take more than 50 gallons in the end. It all depends on your Baq levels when you start.
2. Sand.
3. 8.5 lbs of stabilizer (to add CYA after the conversion is done).
4. P.O.P (Pool Owner Patience). I prefer my P.O.P in the bottle, others prefer in the can.
5. A GOOD test kit. The TF-100 is a good one. You CANNOT test chlorine at the levels necessary with anything but a FAS-DPD chlorine test.....

Enjoy the colorful show and post some pics!

The big difference between BBB or SWG is after the conversion. With BBB you have to add bleach to your pool daily. With a SWG, you don't have to unless you are shocking the pool. The choice is yours, and somewhat a matter of convenience, but in either case, you are sanitizing your pool with chlorine.

 

[Richard320]

BOTH

Get that pool shocked and balanced NOW. Then add salt and let the SWG maintain things. The longer you wait, the more algae you'll have to kill.

 

[TBWB]

Thanks for the input, guys. I can stock up on supplies tomorrow and start the conversion then. I will have a 5 day weekend over the 4th of July so I can do hourly tests and that should help speed things along, right? I've been reading a lot of conversion stories and I *think* I get the gist of it all.
:fingers crossed:

Question-- do I have to order a Taylor test kit online or can I buy one at a local pool supply place? I hate to have to wait on shipping time (not much POP when you're antsy to get started, huh?)

 

[BamaPool]

Order you a Tf-100-XL from tftestkits.net and i am sure it will be there before the weekend of the 4th..i ordered mine on monday and wednessday i was testing the water....Dave's customer service is excellent.... The XL has more reagents in it so you will have enough...

 

[Ohm_Boy]

What is your current (or actually, previous) method of sanitization? Did you use chlorine pucks? Granules? Bromine? Or was it Biguanide? It's important to know in order to help you here.

If, by "conversion", you mean that you are just wanting to start using BBB methods and you have already been using a chlorine sanitizer, then there is no 'time to convert' - you are just changing your source of chlorine to liquid. Bromine may be as manageable, depending on the levels, and Bacqua can be an experience.


[[EDIT]] Sheesh - when I come back and look at the topic index, I feel REAL stupid. That's what I get for responding on the "view new posts" view. Sorry. [[/EDIT]]

 

[NCFlyersFan]

I second the recommendation to order the TF-100XL from tftestkits.net. Dave's customer service is second to none and he usually ships the same day you place your order. He also offers fedex next day as a shipping option, which would get you the test kit even quicker.

I wouldn't wait for the test kit, though, to start converting. The longer you wait to add chlorine to the pool, the more algae you are going to have to fight along with the baq. Once you order the test kit, use the pool calculator and make a chlorine addition for 15 ppm. The baq, algae, and sun light are going to consume the chlorine pretty quick, so you should be safe making the same addition every morning and evening until you get the test kit. Your local pool store could also test for FC until you get the test kit.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I think you are kind of missing some key factors when it comes to converting and using an SWG.

An SWG simply converts the salt in the water into chlorine, it's an automated chlorination method vs. adding chlorine to the pool daily manually. You would still need to oxidize the Baq with Liquid Chlorine first, or completely drain the water out, start fresh, and have an abbreviated "conversion" but the steps would be the same (shocking the pool as outlined in the conversion article).

Since you have a vinyl liner pool - I wouldn't advise a complete drain and refill - so conversion with liquid chlorine is likely the only option at this point. Once you have completed the steps in the article - then it would be an additional decision/expense to add an SWG to your set up and then add salt to the water - that's a choice of convenience if you like the idea.

So I think regardless of how you want to add chlorine to the water, manually or with an SWG - you are still going to have to follow the steps in:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/baqua_chlorine_conversion

Hope this makes sense...

 

[Positronic]

Sounds like you had baquacil. If I were you I'd start ASAP as I'm on day 14 of my conversion which is probably on the long side of things but you never know (and I still have a few days left). Some people are able to convert there's within a week but another guy on here is also at about 13 - 14 days and he's about done too so it's not unusual to go two weeks for a conversion.