dynamictiger

Depending on your cleaner this works sometimes. Go and buy enough lengths of automatic cleaner house to block off that section of the pool. Fill the hose with wet sand and tape up the ends so the sand does not come out. Lay this across the area you dont want the cleaner to go into. The theory is simple enough the cleaner comes up to the hose and hits it, it cannot climb as the curve normally stops it, so it is directed away from this area. HTH

I think the most practical approach is to empty it, wash the tub down with copious fresh water and then refill. HTH

Essentially Peroxysan is hydrogen peroxide. I do not know the cost of it, however, I would think you could purchase industrial strength peroxide 50% for a similar price. To use peroxide you normally run the system at 40 ppm or thereabouts. For a home spa it is probably a viable alternative, however the cost of the product normally outweighs the benefits. Unfortunately this is why the pool industry normally uses chlorine. It is usual if you do go the peroxide route to also run a secondary system such as ultraviolet at 60 mj/s/cm, and this system does work reasonably well. I am not sure how it would go with Ozone, I have to think about it for a while. HTH

I am assuming you are using Bromine tablets. Bromine tablets are acidic and need a total alkalinity of around the 160-200 range so if you forget about testing the water can take a bit of a hit from teh acid in the Bromine before the pH dives too low. The different alkalinities you are seeing are based on different pool surfaces and different chemcial systems. With the ozonator the theory is you can reduce your residual Bromine to about 1 mg/l. The test kits do not reflect this as the test kits are made for all pools not just ozone pools. Unfortunately not all ozonators are efficent and they are mechanical items and do fail, as such it is really up to you what level you feel comfortable maintaining in the spa and this decision will be influenced by local factors such as incoming water, bather load and type of bathers. HTH

Waterbear, what CT time are you working to?

The pH has to be 4.0 or below for the test kit to react this way. I would suggest of the choices that most likely a large dose of sodium carbonate would get you started on raising your TA. You may find you need quite a lot to neutralise the acid still in your pool.

Waterbear, please find out who you are talking to before going off on a tangent. I was speaking about a backyard pool not a commercial pool. I would point out I helped write the code for the health department. Whilst copper can cause green water, Iron normally causes green water as the brown colour you are referring to normally reflects with the blue pool to create a greenish tinge. In addition when iron is present an odd reaction occurs where algal growth accelrates on contact with chlorine inside the iron matrix. Perhaps once you have another fifteen years experience you will have treated some pools with cast iron pipework and will see this phenomenon. If you have metals dropping out of solution when using EDTA based product I would suggest you seriously invetigate the filter rate. As across four countries in more years than I carre to recall I have not seen this in every kind of water you care to name.

The most common metal that turns your water green after shock dosing is Iron. The home test for iron is to test the chlorine if it is reading at a reasonable level and the water is green most likely it is iron. To fix iron you need to add more chlorine, and lots of it. The iron has to be oxidised before the water will come clear. The usual practice is to shock it to 10-15 mg/l nightly and run the filter constantly. Nothing will change for several days then suddenly the water will be crystal clear. You can swim in water with chlorine as low as you like, however chlorine is there to protect you and your family from bacteria build up. Bacteria is introduced to the pool from a myriad of sources including from the bather themselves. Depending on temperature you may want to increase or decrease your chlorine level, but should probably not go below 1.5 mg/l for safe bathing.

In the filter there is a an automatic air bleed. This has most likely become blocked as they do over the years. The air compresses in the top fo teh filter and then blows back when you switch the pump off. The simplest fix is a check valve between the pump and the filter. In the filter there is a an automatic air bleed. This has most likely become blocked as they do over the years. The air compresses in the top fo teh filter and then blows back when you switch the pump off. The simplest fix is a check valve between the pump and the filter.

The di-chlor for the pool is fine for the spa. The youngsters at your pool shop probably don't remember when we had nothing but Di-chlor for spas (in my country anyway). I can;t think why Tri-Chlor would not be suitable for hotwater. The difference between the di and tri chlor is simply the amount of chlorine Tri has 3 and di 2. They are both essentially the same chemical. The di chlor will have more stabiliser present.

HCL attacks polyethelene over time. The black specs are probably little bits of the plastic container being broken down. Whilst it is nothing to be too concerned about, I would suggest the stock is not the freshest

Hi Linda Silica is not practical to remove. However, I seriously doubt this is causing the itch. The most common cause of itching in spas is 'bromine allergy' or pseudomonas. To eliminate the bromine as a possible source swap the client to chlorine and see how they react if at all. If this clears the problem up then it is solved. Pseudomonas is a much more serious issue. I would start by completely draining the spa and washing down with a strong chlorine solution and filling the filter with chlorine for 24 hours. Following this refiill the spa and shock and hold high chlorine for several days before letting it settle to a more normal useable level. HTH