BrianMc

Thanks much!

I'm refilling my spa again and I always use soft water because it's easier to correct than the water straight from the well. The problem is I'm going through a bunch of Calcium Hardness Increaser from my dealer. I have a product in the garage called "Excel Snow and Ice Melt" that is labeled as "pure calcium chloride." Would this be an acceptable alternative for increasing the hardness of the spa water?

Thanks for the assist, Nitro and Spa Geek. I've ordered the water test kit -- those strips are frustrating. I'm off to Pet Smart in the morning to get an ammonia test kit. I'll read up on the decontamination business and the regular maintenance routines. I'm not getting the warm and fuzzies about the information my dealer has been giving me. I was told with the ozone system on the spa that I would only need to change the water once a year. I'm remembering a cartoon from my youth where a gullible lion is taunted repeatedly with the shout of "Sucker!!!"

We just got started with a hot tub this summer. We bought a Hot Spring Vanguard. The dealer told us that once we get the water balanced the standard maintenance was to simply add a teaspoon of chlorine granules each time we used the tub. Well, I had been checking the water regularly during the summer when we had more visitors and I found that I needed to add a few teaspoons each time. Once fall hit and it was just my wife and me using the tub, I started adding a teaspoon each time as the dealer had suggested. I wasn't checking the chemicals regularly. Last week, my wife got a bit of a skin irritation and I figured I better start monitoring the chemical in the spa more closely. I adjusted the PH and then tried to get the chlorine right. I was adding a teaspoon at a time and the free chlorine indicator was not moving. I tried super chlorinating -- 5 teaspoons and still couldn't get it to move. I tried it one more time. No free chlorine indicated -- but oddly enough(to me anyway) the bromine indicator was measuring levels of bromine (3-5 range). I've never used bromine in the spa and as I recall the indicator has never shown any bromine levels. But the indicator said the level was OK. Yesterday, I brought a sample of the water to the dealer for analysis. He said things looked good aside from no chlorine. He told me to add 3 teaspoons of the chlorine granules (Regal Dychlor-II). I went home and added 5. No free chlorine. Today I took another sample to the dealer. He said I had "chlorine lock" and that was why the indicator was showing bromine but no free chlorine. He said to hit it with a couple lids full of MPS chlorine free oxidizer and wait a few hours and then hit it with chlorine again. I waited 5 hours after the MPS treatment. I checked the water before hitting it with chlorine. It still showed bromine. I hit it with 5 teaspoons of the chlorine. The test strip now shows Total Bromine (TBr) over 10. No free chlorine (FCl). The dealer is closed. I'll get in touch with him tomorrow. But in the meantime, I am very puzzled and wondered if anyone might shed some light on what's happening. Thanks.