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Another update : After shocking to 50ppm yesterday I measured the chlorine levels this morning and it was all the way down to 20ppm. Is this bad? I will continue to measure the chlorine levels today. Any other input?

I tested CC. When I added the 5 drops of Reagent 3, the solution turned a very very pale pink, so there is at least some. One drop of titrating reagent cleared it up, so the CC is at 0.5ppm or possibly less. I will do as you say, adding the 50ppm bleach. Thank you. Edited to add: I did another FAS/DPD test at 1:30p and the Chlorine only dropped 1 ppm since I tested it 6.5 hours ago. It was at 7.5ppm and I brought it up to 50ppm with the bleach. At some point tonight I think I should close the spa lid (for safety and liability). Will that harm anything to have the lid closed with the high chlorine levels?

Additional info: Jim: Filters were changed at the new water fill in October. We have two sets, so one set was clean and ready to go for October (we clean them by soaking in Cascade detergent with the phosphates in it) Waterbear: Our intention is to get back on track with the dichlor then bleach method. More Chlorine level info: 1/24 8:30am- added approximately 20ppm sanitizer, I did not measure with the Fas/dpd test at this point. 1/24 1:30pm- FAS/dpp-16ppm 1/24 5:45pm- FAS/dpd-15ppm 1/25 7:00am- FAS/dpd-8.5ppm Do I keep adding high levels of bleach at this point? Will an MPS shock help at all (I've never used MPS) so I don't know anything about how that works or how much I would use. Would appreciate additional input on whether my tub is safe to use or how to get the CD lower. Thank you

Pertinent information: Dimension 1 Nautilus (so has an ozone generator) method: dichlor then bleach last fresh fill: 10/2011 use: light, maybe 6-8 times this season, 2-3 people (either 2 adults or 1 adult plus two children who have showered before getting in) water clarity: still looks clear to my eye Chemistry: Borates- 50ppm pH- 7.9 (I've been struggling to keep it down despite lots of dry acid addition periodically) TA- 70 Problem: failing to keep up with the bleach addition faithfully, sometimes going a week in between additions if we haven't used it. Getting back into trying to be more diligent I started testing the water more routinely, first a quick check of Chlorine with strips....I noticed that even though I had added 8oz bleach the night before that the next day the strip indicated almost no Chlorine left, and the FAS/Dpd test confirmed, there was about 0.5-1 ppm Chlorine overnight after no use. So I knew we had a problem. Tried adding a cup of bleach again and next day same thing. So today I also added 10ppm of dichlor. I usually add 5ppm once a month because I read the CYA does fall off slowly each month. So I had added my regularly scheduled Dichlor on 1/1/2012, so this 10ppm dose I added today was just a bit earlier than my schedule. Question: What else can I do at this point? Do I need to get some MPS? Because of the weather I would like to avoid running a decontamination procedure if at all possible, at least until the weather warms to the 40's.

the pool calculator say that-0.34 is a problem, and that I need to be closer to -0.15 or so to be balanced. but if you say it's fine, then I guess I won't adjust anything. pH and TA have been rock solid since the new fill in October.

I have 50ppm borates. pH= 7.5 TA= 50 CH=190 sanitation method= dichlor then bleach. I typically use a visions cartridge however I just ordered a new one so this moment I don't have one in there. New one should arrive later this week though. what area should i target to get the CSI more balanced? Is it more preferable to raise the pH or the TA? thank you.

anyone know the actual dimensions of the Nature2 cartridge?? It's impossible to tell looking at the picture unless I know the scale of each unit.

really? how big is the Nature2 cartridge? The visions isn't that big, maybe 6x3". I would have to put down 4 Nature2's at one time in the tub? that makes no sense. If that is the case I'll stick with the Visions.

I'm coming up on 5 months with my Visions cartridge in my D1 Nautilus (love the tub btw and our water is still looking great with the Dichlor then bleach method). Our dealer sells the Visions cartridge for $65.00 but I notice I can get the Nature2 one online for around $23.00. The only differences that I can tell is that the Nature2 is to be used 4 months where the Visions is 6 months, and then the shape is also different. Can I just lay the Nature2 cartridge on top of the filter area, which is what I do now with the Visions cartridge? I did a lot of searching and I didn't find anywhere that actually compared these two products. thanks

thank you. what I am trying to find out is how much liquid (gel) cascade to use, since that is what I buy. And also it seems that it's the phosphates doing the cleaning. I have phosphates in the form of STPP. Need a chem person to tell me if I can use that in solution to accomplish the cleaning (and how much to use?). Again, because it's what I already have on hand. any input from the chem guys? thanks!

about to clean our filters for the first time. Because it's winter and freezing here, we cannot use a power washer. What else can we do? Secondly, I have read the recommendations for tsp as a cleaning solution, and also the cascade powdered dish detergent. However, I have the gel kind of Cascade (it does have phosphates)...how much would i use of that per gallon (or per 5 gallons). Lastly, I also have some STPP (sodium tripolyphosphate) powder on hand, which I use as a laundry additive. Can I make a solution of that to clean the filters, and if so, how much do I add per gallon? It is just pure STPP, which I purchased from the chemistry store. In my laundry I use about an ounce (2 Tbs) per load. thanks!

I am wondering what FC level I should aim for the water to have right before we use it? We have an ozonater. Do you usually aim to add chlorine before use *and* after use? Or should I increase the amount of chlorine added afterwards so that I don't have to add anymore the next day just before we use it? Secondly, I've noticed that over the course of a few weeks (3 ish) my TA is creeping up a bit. It started in the 50-60 range and now it's a solid 70 according to my Taylor kit. pH has crept up a little also (from about 7.5 to about 7.7). I have been using the dichlor then bleach method. We stopped adding dichlor on 12/10 and switched to bleach then. All this creep has been after we switched to the bleach. Because we stopped using dichlor almost a month ago, I was planning on adding one dose of dichlor soon (per the recommendations because CYa drops each month). I'm figuring that this will drop the pH back into the 7.5-7.6 range but I don't know if it affects TA at all. Thoughts? Oh, and we have already had to have our heater replaced on our month old D1 nautilus. We have had problems with the breaker tripping ever since we hooked the tub up. It happened with increased frequency until by Monday it tripped continually and wouldn't even turn on. Finally the problem was isolated as the heater (they say it must have leaked some moisture even though they couldn't see anything). hope this is NOT a sign of things to come. Anyways it is fixed as of now and we have been enjoying the tub for the past month.

i have also found that my test strips show a pH much lower than my taylor reagent kit. About 0.5-0.6 pH units lower on average. I know that the strips aren't accurate, however I don't get how anyone could possibly get their tub in usable range using those things. And (just guessing) that's what most people use because that's what the dealers tell them to use! It's frustrating that they are THAT off.

aah, thank goodness. yes, i retested and got my usual results (pH 7.5). phew. I used the reagent kit AND the test strips. I suspect the container I used for the water sample wasn't rinsed well enough from the bleach we added two days ago. I measure the bleach out and my husband puts it in after our soaks. He says he rinsed it but when I retested everything was normal so it seems to me it's likely there was some residual dried bleach in there??? anyways, false alarm, all is good. sorry for disturbing the peace!!!!

Background: new tub as of 12/5/09 flushed, decontaminated, got it balanced to a TA of around 60 and pH 7.4. If anything the pH had a tendency to drop and over a few days I added a couple tablespoons of Borax to get it up to the 7.5 range. I've been measuring the pH almost daily, but stopped measuring TA about a week ago. We've been using the dichlor then bleach method. Switched to bleach on 12/12/09 All of a sudden today I measure my pH and it's over 8.0 and the TA is reading 220!!! What? how can that be? My TA out of the tap was 130. What happened? 2 days ago our whole family used it and I had to add 11 oz of bleach. Does adding that much bleach do something to get the TA/pH out of wack? I can't understand what happened here? No other chemicals were added. please help.