Milky Color

[Parawood]

Hi All,

First post.

Approx 5 weeks ago, I began using Nitro's approach to managing my spa. My numbers are good but I get a white opaque color when the jets are on. This seems to be getting more opaque with time. The water is clear after approx 2 minutes of rest.

I use the Taylor 2006 to test my water. My spa is a small two person model holding 140 gallons.

FC 5.6

pH 7.5

TA 50

CH 150

CYA 35

My CD is approx 2 oz/day

Soaking uses approx 1 oz / person/hr.

Any insights into this?

Parawood

[Nitro]

Is this a new tub? If so, you should drain after the first month. New tubs secrete oils from plastics etc that can cause issues. After you refill, your water should last 6 months.

[Parawood]

Is this a new tub? If so, you should drain after the first month. New tubs secrete oils from plastics etc that can cause issues. After you refill, your water should last 6 months.

Nitro,

New this summer. I started with the clearblue copper system. Ended up draining it and refilling it twice. I sanitized it with high diclor prior to starting with your system. It has been about 5 weeks with almost daily usage.

Parawood

[Nitro]

New this summer. I started with the clearblue copper system. Ended up draining it and refilling it twice. I sanitized it with high diclor prior to starting with your system. It has been about 5 weeks with almost daily usage.

Sounds like you have sluggish water. Although it shouldn't be after only 5 weeks, unless you started with very high TDS. You have well water by chance?

It could be you're not using enough Chlorine. Try giving it a good shock. Add an ounce of MPS and a cup of bleach. That should catch you up. You can also try a clarifier such as Sea Klear. Drop in an ounce. You may need to wait a few days for your FC to drop below 10 ppm before using it. But if your FC is below 10 ppm after 24 hours, add another ounce of MPS and cup of bleach.

Lastly, have you been keeping your filter clean? If you add Sea Klear, make sure to clean your filter the next day.

Oops, after I typed the above I missed that you wrote you're using 1 oz/person/hour. Are you talking about bleach, or Dichlor? If you're talking about bleach, that's probably not enough. Read my link below about Chlorine Demand (CD), and check it. Also, check your Combined Chlorine (CC) just for yucks.

[Parawood]

New this summer. I started with the clearblue copper system. Ended up draining it and refilling it twice. I sanitized it with high diclor prior to starting with your system. It has been about 5 weeks with almost daily usage.

Sounds like you have sluggish water. Although it shouldn't be after only 5 weeks, unless you started with very high TDS. You have well water by chance?

It could be you're not using enough Chlorine. Try giving it a good shock. Add an ounce of MPS and a cup of bleach. That should catch you up. You can also try a clarifier such as Sea Klear. Drop in an ounce. You may need to wait a few days for your FC to drop below 10 ppm before using it. But if your FC is below 10 ppm after 24 hours, add another ounce of MPS and cup of bleach.

Lastly, have you been keeping your filter clean? If you add Sea Klear, make sure to clean your filter the next day.

Oops, after I typed the above I missed that you wrote you're using 1 oz/person/hour. Are you talking about bleach, or Dichlor? If you're talking about bleach, that's probably not enough. Read my link below about Chlorine Demand (CD), and check it. Also, check your Combined Chlorine (CC) just for yucks.

Nitro,

Thanks for the fast reply. City water. I had shocked it a few days ago and had an FC of 11ppm after 24 hrs. Wife and I got in for a half hour. Figured it was still high chlorine, so didn't add any. Next day was down to 0 FC. Added 1/2 cup Chlorox and some Sea Klear (did not know about cleaning filter within 24 hours).

I use dichlor (1 tbsp) weekly for shocking purpose. This is a small tub (140 gal).

I cleaned the filter with the hose yesterday. It did not look bad, nothing like when using the Clearblue.

Would you recommend I still go with the heavy shock? Could the Sea Klear have caused this?

Parawood

[mcw53]

New this summer. I started with the clearblue copper system. Ended up draining it and refilling it twice. I sanitized it with high diclor prior to starting with your system. It has been about 5 weeks with almost daily usage.

Sounds like you have sluggish water. Although it shouldn't be after only 5 weeks, unless you started with very high TDS. You have well water by chance?

It could be you're not using enough Chlorine. Try giving it a good shock. Add an ounce of MPS and a cup of bleach. That should catch you up. You can also try a clarifier such as Sea Klear. Drop in an ounce. You may need to wait a few days for your FC to drop below 10 ppm before using it. But if your FC is below 10 ppm after 24 hours, add another ounce of MPS and cup of bleach.

Lastly, have you been keeping your filter clean? If you add Sea Klear, make sure to clean your filter the next day.

Oops, after I typed the above I missed that you wrote you're using 1 oz/person/hour. Are you talking about bleach, or Dichlor? If you're talking about bleach, that's probably not enough. Read my link below about Chlorine Demand (CD), and check it. Also, check your Combined Chlorine (CC) just for yucks.

Nitro,

Thanks for the fast reply. City water. I had shocked it a few days ago and had an FC of 11ppm after 24 hrs. Wife and I got in for a half hour. Figured it was still high chlorine, so didn't add any. Next day was down to 0 FC. Added 1/2 cup Chlorox and some Sea Klear (did not know about cleaning filter within 24 hours).

I use dichlor (1 tbsp) weekly for shocking purpose. This is a small tub (140 gal).

I cleaned the filter with the hose yesterday. It did not look bad, nothing like when using the Clearblue.

Would you recommend I still go with the heavy shock? Could the Sea Klear have caused this?

Parawood

Your bleach usage of 1 oz/person/hour is quite low. Rule of thumb is 5 oz/person/hour, regardless of spa size.

You mentioned SeaKlear. This is a brand name, not a specific product. If you're talking about the non-chlorine oxidizer (MPS compound), regular use will definitely cause false high readings on the Taylor FC and CC tests. I would cross-check the FC reading with a test strip. Your actual FC may be lower than you think. SeaKlear MPS will also contribute to lowering pH since it is acidic. You also didn't mention how much you are adding.

Your weekly shock with 1 tablespoon dichlor / 140 gallons works out to 14.8 ppm FC and 13.3 ppm CYA. Your CYA will be high after 3 weeks, so you might want to watch this. If you keep your tub properly sanitized, weekly shocking should not be necessary.

[Nitro]

Thanks for the fast reply. City water. I had shocked it a few days ago and had an FC of 11ppm after 24 hrs. Wife and I got in for a half hour. Figured it was still high chlorine, so didn't add any. Next day was down to 0 FC. Added 1/2 cup Chlorox and some Sea Klear (did not know about cleaning filter within 24 hours).

I use dichlor (1 tbsp) weekly for shocking purpose. This is a small tub (140 gal).

I cleaned the filter with the hose yesterday. It did not look bad, nothing like when using the Clearblue.

Would you recommend I still go with the heavy shock? Could the Sea Klear have caused this?

First, always add Chlorine after you soak. Being a small tub it will get used up faster. Remember, it takes the same volume of Chlorine (not ppm) to oxidizer bather waste regardless of the tub size. That means you should be adding the same amount of bleach I had to my 350 gal tub after soaks.

Second, never let your FC drop to zero. See above!

Third, what Sea Klear are you using, non-chlorine shock (aka MPS)? I was referring to the Clarifier.

Lastly, why would you use Dichlor once a week, if your using the Dichlor/Bleach method? Dichlor is only need on a fresh fill to build up CYA. After that you use Chlorox Bleach as your Chlorine source.

Yes, I would give it a heavy shock. One full cup Bleach and 1 oz MPS (non-chlorine shock). The clarifier (by Sea Klear) is optional, but can't hurt.

[Parawood]

Thanks for the fast reply. City water. I had shocked it a few days ago and had an FC of 11ppm after 24 hrs. Wife and I got in for a half hour. Figured it was still high chlorine, so didn't add any. Next day was down to 0 FC. Added 1/2 cup Chlorox and some Sea Klear (did not know about cleaning filter within 24 hours).

I use dichlor (1 tbsp) weekly for shocking purpose. This is a small tub (140 gal).

I cleaned the filter with the hose yesterday. It did not look bad, nothing like when using the Clearblue.

Would you recommend I still go with the heavy shock? Could the Sea Klear have caused this?

First, always add Chlorine after you soak. Being a small tub it will get used up faster. Remember, it takes the same volume of Chlorine (not ppm) to oxidizer bather waste regardless of the tub size. That means you should be adding the same amount of bleach I had to my 350 gal tub after soaks.

Second, never let your FC drop to zero. See above!

Third, what Sea Klear are you using, non-chlorine shock (aka MPS)? I was referring to the Clarifier.

Lastly, why would you use Dichlor once a week, if your using the Dichlor/Bleach method? Dichlor is only need on a fresh fill to build up CYA. After that you use Chlorox Bleach as your Chlorine source.

Yes, I would give it a heavy shock. One full cup Bleach and 1 oz MPS (non-chlorine shock). The clarifier (by Sea Klear) is optional, but can't hurt.

Nitro,

I am still new to this and feeling my way through. I got my products mixed up. I meant to say I am using the MPS once a week for shocking. I have both products. With the Sea Klear, I am using the clarifier product.

I am beginning to feel like I have a better understanding now about chlorine need regarding bather waste vs ppm.

I will see how it does over the next couple days as I am off from work.

Thanks again for your help.

Parawood

[OttawaGreg]

Your bleach usage of 1 oz/person/hour is quite low. Rule of thumb is 5 oz/person/hour, regardless of spa size.

>> Greg

I am thinking your rule of thumb is close to what I have been seeing lately having just started using the dyclor/bleach method. When I used 2-3 oz of bleach after a soak there was often 0 CH the next day. My average use is 1 1/2 person soaks nightly for 1 hour. So, I am thinking I need on average 5-8 oz of bleach (Clorox 6%) as a dose after a soak. I sweat more then the wife (allot more) so 150-200 ml is a good amount to add nightly for the both of us. If it's just me for 45 minutes then maybe 120 ml.

Does this sound about right?

Greg

[Parawood]

Your bleach usage of 1 oz/person/hour is quite low. Rule of thumb is 5 oz/person/hour, regardless of spa size.

>> Greg

I am thinking your rule of thumb is close to what I have been seeing lately having just started using the dyclor/bleach method. When I used 2-3 oz of bleach after a soak there was often 0 CH the next day. My average use is 1 1/2 person soaks nightly for 1 hour. So, I am thinking I need on average 5-8 oz of bleach (Clorox 6%) as a dose after a soak. I sweat more then the wife (allot more) so 150-200 ml is a good amount to add nightly for the both of us. If it's just me for 45 minutes then maybe 120 ml.

Does this sound about right?

Greg

Greg,

My statement of "bleach usage of 1 oz/person/hour" was probably not expressed well as this was in addition to the 2 oz of bleach per day I was adding. I am convinced now I was still not using enough and will adjust bleach usage upward.

Bear with me. I appreciate all the comments.

Parawood