Gracee

No, see chem geek's post for where to get boric acid. I did but I couldn't get any of the links to work for some reason. Also, I wondered where I could get it in a store (other than the pharmacy, sounded like it costs too much for the quantity)?

I tested my source water that I use to (re)fill the hot tub for ch. It tests ch=170. On more than one occasion, about 5 to 6 weeks after refilling the hot tub the ch tests so low that I can't test for it. I didn't know that calcium could be lowered in the water without draining and refilling with water that had less. Where does my calcium go? With new water in the tub I have virtually no foam but by the time the ch tests so low I have a moderate amount of foam. Gracee

I found a 5lb pail of Boric Acid Powder (that is sold to control insects). Is this the right thing? Gracee

So if the ph is 8.3 and I add acid and the ph goes up again I add more acid. I keep doing this until I the ph stays in the midrange, ignoring how low the alk becomes? I'm thinking it will be very low if I do this? Gracee

I've had trouble with my ph rising to 8.3 over time (starts around 7.5 upon refililng). My alk is usually around 60-80 when I refill. When I add muriatic acid (dosage according to pool calc.) to bring the ph down of course the alk drops even more. How do I bring it up without bring up the ph? Sorry if the answer is here somewhere but I haven't been able to locate it. Gracee

We just use a piece of clear plastic tubing (1" or so in dia). It is easy to start a siphon and works great. We have trouble with sand and leaves regularly. I use the siphon method once a week. It takes less than 5 minutes to do and is very cheap. Linda

Does anyone know if Leisure bay spas is a reputable brand? My friend has a chance to purchase 2 new "scratch & dent" Leisure baby spas (they need 2 spas) from Craig's List for less than $2500/each with only a 30 day warranty. I told her my concerns and said I would check on this for her. I am new to hottubs but I recently purchased a CalSpa after much research that dettered me away from such deals and things like Costco, Sams or side road and online vendors. I didn't want to discourage her if this was really a good spa and good deal. A quick response would be appreciated. Thanks!! Linda

Hi! Just refilled the tub last Wed. It is 425 Calspa with Ozone. I'm using the bromine/bleach method. My water test today: 91 F degrees 7.2 ph 6 bromine 100 Alk 190 Hardness This is the second month I've had the spa (bought new). I didn't notice any funny odor the first month (I'm might have been so overwhelmed by the newness I didn't notice?) There is a funny odor that is especially noticeable when the jets are running. It seems to come from the top of the water with bubbles and agitation. I don't really notice the water itself smelling and it is not chlorine, don't think it is bromine. At least when I smell the tabs in the floater they don't seem to smell that strong or the same. The smell is hard to describe, a little bit like a scorch smell more than a chemical smell. Is it the ozone? I have no idea when the ozone is running. I didn't mean for the bromine to get so high and will adjust my floater a bit. I was having trouble getting enough at first. Linda

I would also like to know of a product or place that I can purchase trisodium phosphate in store instead of online.

Sorry for so many posts but I'm trying to learn how to take care of this tub. I had a above ground pool, 18,000 gal, for 12 years using bleach and didn't realize how different the water chemistry would seem to me. My CalSpa is 425 gal with ozone using bromine, bleach for shock. I test: ph - 7.2 temp - 91 TA- 50 TH - 122 (not sure about this...my test kit shows 0 and I wonder about it, the city water shows 122) I am going to get the water tested at the pool store soon as I can get there. My tub is solid white (like a bathtub) but the water appears to be bluish (not green at all). Is this normal or should it be clear with no tint? I'm in the process of adding baking soda to bring up the TA and don't know if that could cause the color. Although, I've had water in it for 2 weeks and it has always looked this way to me. It doesn't appear that my water is terribly out of of balance and I'm working to bring it into line. I didn't know if this was a sign of a problem or normal? Thanks again!

After nearly an hour on hold with CalSpa I did find out that the ozone only runs when in filtering cycle, not when you run the jets and soak (unless it happens to be running the filter cycle when you are in the tub).

The copper shows to be .054 ppm. Iron is 1.43 ppm. Is the iron high enough for me to need to treat metals? Also it shows calcium as 42.1 ppm and Hardness as Ca/MG as 122 ppm. Which of these do I use when considering adding calcium to the water? Thanks!

I just purchased a new CalSpa Escape (2009). The book is not really very good imo. It is for all of their portable spas and seems to leave out a lot of info that would be helpful. I've read a lot of posts here about ozone and reading them has generating several questions about the safety and whether I should use or disable the ozone. Is it safe to soak while the ozone is on? My tub seems to be limited in controls. I have no control over the ozone that I am aware of. I read here that some of the newer tubs the ozone only runs when filtering but will stop if topside buttons are pushed so that it is not running while soaking. Does anyone know if this is true for my tub or how I can determine this? Should I be concerned about the tub turning yellow because of the ozone? (My tub is white btw). I'm beginning to wonder if the dangers outweigh the benefits of ozone. Also, I have no clue as how to know if the ozone quits working.

Ok...since I'm not getting a response can someone tell me how I am supposed to determine if I need to add metal treatment to my water? I have city water and have a report of the metals in it. Is city water generally ok without the metal treatment upon startup? I don't want to add chemicals I don't need and I don't want to buy them either! Thanks!

Ok...since I'm not getting a response can someone tell me how I am supposed to determine if I need to add metal treatment to my water? I have city water and have a report of the metals in it. Is city water generally ok without the metal treatment upon startup? I don't want to add chemicals I don't need and I don't want to buy them either! Thanks!