tfish Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I am having a problem with green water in my hot tub. The water is clear it just has a green tint to it. I read that it could be due to a high metal content in my water so I added a metal remover. This did not solve the problem. I am using city water so I would think that the metals should not be the issue. I use a bromine system in my tub which has been shocked 3 times and the problem is still present. Should I just empty and refill or are there any other suggestions as to what is causing the problem? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I am having a problem with green water in my hot tub. The water is clear it just has a green tint to it. I read that it could be due to a high metal content in my water so I added a metal remover. This did not solve the problem. I am using city water so I would think that the metals should not be the issue. I use a bromine system in my tub which has been shocked 3 times and the problem is still present. Should I just empty and refill or are there any other suggestions as to what is causing the problem? Thanks. Usually clear green water is a sign of copper. If it's slightly cloudy it could be alge. How long has it been since you refilled your tub? If it's been more than a month, I would just refill. When you refill, you might want to use a Pre-Filter that connects to the hose. It should remove some of the metals. However, I would try to determine what is causing it, so you can prevent it from happening again. Have you tested your water balance i.e. CH, TA and pH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfish Posted December 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 The green water occured a day after I filled it. At the time my bromine level was really low and almost non-existent. However it has been a week and a half and my bromine levels are right around 3-4 ppm. The TA is around 70 ppm, PH is 7.2 ppm and the CH is about 100 ppm. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmartine Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I have had the same clear green water a couple of times as well, but only after a month or so of use. When it happens, it is quick, one day it is fine, then boom! This just happened to me again, but I had low chlorine and large bather load. The green never goes away, even after restoring water balance (no abnormal smells either). I am on well water and use a prefilter. Supposedly algae is hard to grow without light (my spa water rarely sees daylight) and I don't know why a metal issue would take so long to show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 The green water occured a day after I filled it. At the time my bromine level was really low and almost non-existent. However it has been a week and a half and my bromine levels are right around 3-4 ppm. The TA is around 70 ppm, PH is 7.2 ppm and the CH is about 100 ppm. Thanks. It's not likely Algae if it only happen a day after you filled the tub. That means it's metals i.e. Copper. Also, your pH/TA is too low. If you have copper parts in your tub (i.e. the heater), you could be corroding them. Your TA should be up around 100-120 and your pH should be around 7.6. You should add Baking Soda to raise your TA (2 oz per 300 Gallons), then aerate your tub to raise pH. Your CH could also be raised to 120-150, but that's not as urgent. After balancing your water, you can try using a metal sequestrant (metal remover) again, which may remove the color. The other option is to just refill the tub. If it is coming from your heater/spa parts, after you refill and balance your water, you should see no color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I have had the same clear green water a couple of times as well, but only after a month or so of use. When it happens, it is quick, one day it is fine, then boom! This just happened to me again, but I had low chlorine and large bather load. The green never goes away, even after restoring water balance (no abnormal smells either). I am on well water and use a prefilter. Supposedly algae is hard to grow without light (my spa water rarely sees daylight) and I don't know why a metal issue would take so long to show up. Again, it could happen if you let your TA and pH get too low, and you have Copper parts in your tub. However, you having hell (I mean well) water could have a lot of metals in it already. Then as soon as your water balance is off, your water will turn green/brown etc. You could try filling your tub using a pre-filter, that will remove some of the metals. Also, if you have really hard water, you can fill your tub with the water coming from a water softener (assuming you have one). However, if you do this you will need to add Calcium, because the water softener will remove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Many of the metal removers do not remove copper, its also one of the ingredients in the mineral sticks, so it will not harm you. Copper has strong reactions with bromine causing the green color. Algea is very rare and difficult to "grow" in a hot tub unless it is uncovered all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.