Spa Newbie

This was Richard's response to my post about having a nasty green scum in my spa after using a flush. FYI - my water was clear and test strips showed it was balanced. This scum was definitely residue from manufacturing. I highly recommend a spa flush if you've never done one. Laurie

Thanks for your response. After posting my test results, I thought about what the next step should be and added enough baking soda to increase TA by 10 ppm to start. Glad to see I was inline with your recommendation. Taking into consideration that the chlorine test was still turning pink until I added 16 drops of reagent, it sounds like my CD is more like 20%. I'll see how it goes with starting the swirl before I add the powder or drops. If we're not using the spa, how much Dichlor can I add at one time? We'll be away for several days and so far I just have the initial addition of Dichlor at 10 ppm. In re-evaluating the test result last night, it seems my FC was still at 8 ppm after 27 hours. How high can I have the FC without harming the components or top? The spa shell is made from Fortiflex™ High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). Is it bad to add a lot of CYA at one time? Thanks! Laurie

I really love this forum for information. I have read so much on here and honestly, my head is swimming with information and it will take time to sink in. I filled my spa yesterday with fresh water. I used the pool calculator to add Dichlor to 10 ppm. It showed .7 oz for a 450 gal tub. I used a scale to weigh it out exactly. I will check my CD tonight. My question is when to balance. The water temp was 54F and we heated it up to 80F last night. We won't be using it for at least a week so there is no need to raise the temp. I know aeration plays a part in pH as well so it didn't seem logical to adjust as soon as the spa was filled. Should I wait until I have my CYA up to 20-30 before adjusting pH and TA? I have my TF Test Kit so I can get true readings now. The old water showed CH at 170. I'm not sure if I should raise it as well since I've seen different numbers mentioned on what is optimal. Once I've got enough CYA, I'll use Clorox. It worked great on the last fill and even though I was using test strips, my readings were right on target or close. Laurie I tested this evening and I'm sure I need to make some adjustments. Just need some guidance in when to make them and if I should worry about getting them exact at this point. TA 40 pH 7.4 CH 110 Chlorine at 6.5 so if I understand right my CD is 35% ? This brings up another question on the chlorine test. I add the reagent until it turns clear and a few seconds later, it's a little pink again. I add another drop and it's clear, then it turns a little pink again, etc... How do I test correctly? My temp is 89F and the CSI is -.71 What would be the steps to take in bringing this fill in balance? Thanks.

We got our spa the end of June. After a month we drained and refilled. We were pushing four months on this last fill. I switched to bleach from Dichlor early on and used some scum busting things occasionally. We also have a Nature2 and ozonator. I used a spa flush (eco friendly) before dumping the water and could not believe the green/blue stuff on the sides of the tub after 1/2 an hour of circulation. It dried by the time the tub emptied and was difficult to scrub off. I scooped a little off the water's surface with my net and I had to scrub my net because the stuff would not wash out of it. I can only imagine it's something from the manufacturing process. Anyone got an idea of what it was? My test strips showed everything was in check and the water was clear.... except for the last day. I just got my TF Test Kit so I tried it out on the old water. The kit and strips both showed my TA and pH were high. I'll post another message regarding my fill and questions. Laurie

We just got a hot tub the end of June and thanks to all of you I've been able to do a good job at maintaining it. It has definitely been a learning experience. Thanks for all your great knowledge! Now with us coming up on winter, I have some concerns with making the water last through winter. The spa is new. It got cloudy after the first month so we dumped it, thinking at least part of the reason was due to the factory gunk in it. But it was probably due to frequent use and not putting anything in for body oils, etc. We live in PA so we will not be able to refill the tub until the spring... or at least we do not want to chance anything freezing in it to refill when the temps are so cold. We plan on refilling in a couple weeks and I would like to know what I can do to keep the water good throughout the winter. I've been using the test (guess) strips up until now. So first is to get one of the recommended test kits. I saw Spa Depot has a spa system flush so I'm thinking we should use some type of product to clear out any deposits that may be in the pipes. before we empty it. Then we'll clean the shell. I'll get a pre-filter for refilling, a new Nature2 cartridge and a Zorbo oil absorber. I have two filters and rinse the one in use every week and periodically clean in TSP. I started off with Dichlor and switched to bleach. Since then, I've never had a problem with the PH, alkalinity or Cyanuric acid readings on the strips. According to the place we bought the tub, CH is not a problem in our water supply, but I'll see when the test kit arrives. I have several bottles of Nature's Way products they gave us with the tub but I've only used the Dichlor and stuff for scum and oils. We also have an ozonator. Lately I've noticed I'm adding more bleach so am I right in thinking the water is getting to the point it needs to be changed? Since I've been able to keep a sanitizer in the tub, I haven't been shocking. I don't notice as much of a chlorine smell but there is a smell and I'm wondering if it's the used up chlorine. Isn't there a product that converts it back to free chlorine? When I use the stuff for oil and scum, I use a net to discard the accumulations. I always run the spa for at least 1/2 hour after adding chemicals. We haven't been using the spa as frequently so we set the temp on 90 and turn it up a few hours before we go in which lately has been once a week. 101 has been the highest we've had it set. I think this is everything I've been doing and my thoughts for the winter. I'd appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on making it through to spring. Laurie