This may be off topic but I am hoping this topic comes up in search for anyone who has a pool, deciding between the Baquacil and chlorine systems. Even if my readers don’t have a need for this particular topic, can’t win them all LOL. The chlorine smell isn’t my favorite, never has been….the truth is many people who have chlorine pools over treat their pool to kill problems, but go overboard. When I first got my pool I went with the Baquacil system to avoid the smell of chlorine and the skin drying it can do etc. Baquacil is soap based, and there are oxidizers and calcium used as well to keep the sanitizer balanced, as well as a CDX cleaner. I have always enjoyed the feel of it, and it doesn’t smell like chemicals. The concept of the product is really good. However, it doesn’t come without a price.

Unfortunately, water conditions can change dramatically. Sometimes, you test the water and it’s perfect….other times you are walking out of the pool store with calcium, sanitizer and oxidizer, etc. A pool tech I know calls it crack for pools, LOL. The pool can’t get enough of it. The other drawback, there are no Baquacil products that can kill algae. Only prevent it. I used Baquacil for 2 years since I first got the above ground 24 foot pool, and it was nice to be in it, but seemed like an endless fight to keep the water right, and it got expensive. Recently, I had some sand issues and the water turned green…I cleaned the sand, and even changed it, no chemical could clear it up. The other disadvantage of Baquacil is is gels the sand, and whitewater mold inside the filter is not good, and eats up the oxidizer. Let me tell you, what they say about Baquacil gelling and hardening the sand is true. I vacuumed out what I could, it was pea green, and I had to use a hose and beat it with a broom handle to break up the sand….took me 2 hours just to get the old sand out. I didn’t see that a couple of the laterals that spin the sand had breaks in the teeth….and you guessed it. I had not only a green pool, but one with a bunch of sand in it when it came out the jets.

I decided to drain all but about a foot of the water, and had a pool guy come out and put chemicals to convert to chlorine and kill the algae, and help me replace the laterals in the filter and refill it with new sand. The next morning, the algae was dead, and I refilled the pool….the next day the water had never looked so clear. If not over chlorinated, it’s not so bad, as far as smell or skin drying, and it’s still refreshing and doesn’t kill your wallet. A fine tradeoff.