What should I know about cleaning my cartridge element if I use Baqucil?
Unlike chlorine, which oxidizes the bacteria in the water, the active ingredient in Baquacil- polyhexamethylene biqunaide (PHMB)- destroys the bacterial cells. PHMB locates and binds to the bacterial surfaces, and then attacks the outer bacterial wall. Once this wall has been compromised, the inner cell membrane (the cytoplasmic membrane) is destroyed. This destruction allows the cell contents to disperse into their surroundings where they are further broken down into their elemental parts by Baqua Shock, a non-chlorine oxidizer. In addition, Baquacil is a mild coagulant, which combines bacterial cells and other small particles in the environment into particles large enough to be trapped by the filter. The resulting deposit is a gray sticky film on the media, which can only be removed with Baqua Clean. If trisodium phosphate (TSP) or any TSP type cleaner is used prior to stripping the film, the cleaner and the gray film will combine to form a gum-like substance. Once this occurs, the s
