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JLazarus, You may feel distraught by what happened, but don't give up. As others have mentioned, dump the water & start again. It is your best and simplest option. We have had a few parties this summer and believe me, the next day the water was simply scary - once, we couldn't see the bottom of the tub because it was so murky. But, that's what you get with 6 people in the tub for 4 or 5 hours in a row. In hindsight, I should have added a little bleach in there while the people were in the tub, just to provoke a little rise in the sanitizer. But, the next day, I simply emptied it and gave it a fast scrub, and started over. Other times, I had HUGE amounts of foam due to insufficient shocking to burn off organics. But, with high shocking & a little patience, everything got better. Balancing the water may seem complicated at first, but I assure you that it is dead simple if you give it a chance. I am partial to 3-step bromine as it requires minimal maintenance (but a good test kit); as to the rest, calcium just needs to be tested after a fill, and adjusted if necessary, and then only once in a blue moon just to make sure the "topping off" hasn't affected it too much. PH and Alkalinity need to be tested a little more frequently because of the acidic nature of the bromine, but then again, not necessarily every day. So your main concern is the sanitizer levels, which are very - very - easy to maintain IF you have a well established bromine bank and once you have determined how to set your floater for optimal results. My personal experience also says that using MPS has a tendency to increase the foaming so now use bleach for shocking; however, I have no scientific proof of this, only what I observed in my spa. But for me, no more mps, just 6% bleach for shock. If you keep a good sanitizer level in your tub and shock after a heavy bather load (i.e., dump a few tablespoons of bleach in there according to your tub size; it only takes a few seconds) you will find your maintenance very simple. Don't give up, you'll find your spa very enjoyable. No stress, it's there to help you relax!

Great! Thanks for your help!

My pleasure. Until you receive your tablets, just add a little MPS (or bleach) every day. It'll keep things going & when you are recuperating from your surgery, the tablets will do most of the work for you.

Stop that you're making me blush!

K, so what u r saying is I could have used the liquid I was sold, only I would have required a larger quantity up front being it is a 35% solution, yes? I used the Brom-Start I bought at Wally World instead, which is in crystal form and is 99% sodium bromide, so I knew I was good there. I put in 1.25 oz of this followed by 3/4 oz of Spa Shock (potassium peroxymonosulfate) as an oxidizer. That put me at about 7.5, but within 24 hours it was down to under 2. I plan to recheck all the levels here in a few. Incidentally, prior to the intro of bromine I had the TA and pH right where they needed to be, but once the bromine and shock had a couple hours to settle in the TA went way down and required like 5 tablespoons of arm n hammer to get it back up. Is this to be expected? I used the tub for the first time last night and I have to say the water felt much 'softer' than with baqua, which I like, and barely any noticeable odor to speak of as well. Just for the heck of it, I've decided to put in my 2 cents worth... Yes, McHarley, you could have used the 35% bromide solution, that's what I used for my tub (added about 1 cup for a 400 gal tub, following directions on the label), plus oxidizer of course. Save your liquid bromide for the next fill... it'll do just fine. Regarding bromine level drop, if the level was at 7.5, and, if I understand correctly, you had a soak and did not add any oxidizer afterwards, it is normal that your level has dropped. 2 step bromine (no floater) requires constant addition of oxidizer, almost daily. Is the floater in yet? The chlorine included in the tablets will help to maintain an acceptable bromine level. Your TA will always have a tendency to fluctuate downwards with bromine since tablets are acidic and so is the MPS. However, since you are still in the "adjustment phase", I will reiterate Waterbear's good advice to me (and I paraphrase): wait a while before fussing around with it, or you will walk right into the yo-yo syndrome; TA too low - add bicarb.. TA or PH goes too high, add acid. TA gets too low... you see the picture. With a little patience (wait a couple of days), it should settle and you will have a better idea of what your "real" levels are. If the TA falls below 50 however, then add some bicarb but I would suggest aiming for a level of maximum 70 to start with. If you add more (let's say to get to a level of 90 or 100), your PH may skyrocket and then... yo-yo syndrome again. Been there, and that's no fun at all. My tub has about 70 jets in it, so lots of aeration going on. If my TA is higher than 60, the PH goes way high because of the strong aeration. At a TA of 60 or 50, PH remains at 7.4 to 7.6, and stays there. So if your TA is 50 or higher, and PH is ok, leave it be. All is well. Just monitor your TA every 4 days or so and adjust (slowly) if it falls below 50. Keep an eye on the PH daily for a week or 2 to make sure it doesn't go below 7.2. If it does, increase TA. Once you have set your TA and added the floater, you will find that your bromine tub only needs a minimum amount of maintenance time, for maximum enjoyment It will be routine testing, shocking once a week or so, and filling up the floater about once a week.

Thanks for your reply Chemgeek. I do in fact have an ozonator. I can't do the loss test because the ozonator will use up the bromine, depleting faster, or because it will keep on reactivating it, keeping the level up? (that's just for my personal knowledge). Since I can't do the loss test, then I assume I should decon? If so, I would like to neutralize the chlorine before emptying the tub. Can you tell me in what type of store I could find Hydrogen Peroxide in large quantities to do so? (Hardware? pool store? other?) I know at the pool store they sell chlorine neutralizer, but I think it's sodium thiosulfate and not H2O2. I am under the impression that H2O2 would be a "greener" choice, but then I might by way off base. Which is better? Thanks for your help!

Ok so some people may think I'm an idiot for leaving my water standing still for 2 weeks. Now let's see the explanation: 2 weeks ago, time to drain & refill. So we drained, washed & scrubbed everything with bleach & water, refilled fresh afterwards. Purged the non-existent air from the hoses, as should be done. Test water, only need a little baking soda, so it was added. No bromine in yet. Start the pump: works for 1 min then freezes up. Have been waiting for the repair guy for 2 weeks. Should have new pump sometime this week (so he says). So I did not add any bromine or bleach at that point, since it is the main pump that died and no circulation (and no filtration) was possible anyways. My question is: should I go through a full decontamination when the new pump is installed? Is there any chance there may be nasties already growing in there? The tub was obviously not used at all after the refill, since the water was at 67 degrees when I filled, and it's probably lower than that now (weather is getting colder). The water added was regular "tap" water. Should I have added bleach anyways? What about flushing the spa... would that also be required? The spa is brand new and was only used for 4 months prior to this. Thanks for your help!

So it's time for the drain & refill. I was wondering - is using the Spa Flush necessary or is it only if the spa needs decontamination? And also, do the filters really need to be removed while the spa flush (or swirl away, or whatever equivalent product) is in there? If so, I would be curious to actually know why. It is to be noted that there is no particular problem with the water, it has been properly maintained (Thanks for your help with that, Waterbear! ); it's just that time. Thanks for your advice!

TY so much for the compliment, Waterbear. I'm blushing. Well, I am NOT the same person as 2 months ago - I was blind, but now I see... because of your teachings oh great master! lol! And yes, you are still needed, very much so! Seriously, I spent hours & hours reading posts on this forum and am delighted by what I've learned. I never would have thought that I would get excited at the idea of finding 6% bleach at the hardware store! Woohoo! Now that I understand what is going on with my water, I find that although the chemistry in itself is of course somewhat complex, the basic principles are very simple... I just hope that as many people as possible find this site and learn from it. My next objective is monitoring the TDS. I know there are kits available for that, but I need to read up on it beforehand. I was actually telling my hubby the other day that I would be curious to bring my test kit to a certain friend's place, who has had a spa for 12 years - and ONLY uses strips - and test the water to see what is going on in there. She told me, when we bought the spa, not to forget to add anti-scale product once a week - and insisted on the importance of it - because her heater was once destroyed by scale deposits, within 2 or 3 years. Well, now, I know why. Unbalanced water - improperly tested, and improperly maintained. Such a simple issue to resolve but sadly, too few dealers care enough to learn about it &/or inform their clients. I've been to three different ones with my previous problems, and they just had no clue whatsoever - their only solution was to either do a re-fill or use more of their products. I think I'll start a mobile water testing business - Get the certification (cause having "the papers" is definitely a plus, in addition to the fact that I'm convinced I still have loads to learn) and then go to people's homes & do the testing for them. I wouldn't sell many expensive products, but I'm pretty sure I'd have lots of happy clients! In the long run, I think my services would be less expensive that all the s**t they add to their water!

Glad I could help. Don't forget to add sodium Bicarb to increase your ALK which is WAY too low, and probably part of the reason why your pH was also so low. Try increasing to 50 and see what happens. My spa is happy at 50 - if I go to 70 or 80, the PH rockets back up again. If your ph still remains very low after a few days, I would suggest trying alk at 70. It took me at least 6 weeks of trial and error before I found the perfect "recipe". 4 weeks of working blind because of lack of information - then I found this site - and then, after about 2, maybe 3 weeks, I was set. If it hadn't been for Waterbear and his precious advice, along with that of the other mods on the site, I would still be stuck in the PH yo-yo... With foam up to my ears (literally). I do live in a very cold climate, in the province of Quebec. The spa is outside, allbeit only 4 steps away from the patio door. This was done on purpose so we would use it in the wintertime. Since it is brand new and our first, we haven't tried it yet but I can't wait to actually be in 100 degree water when it's about 10 degrees outside. As to putting yours on the porch, people I know who have "covered" spas in the winter have said that the main problem is condensation. Some have reported that their spa, enclosed in a type of canvas "garage" or "tent", produces condensation/vapor that freezes up on the ceiling of their "shelter". When they use the spa afterwards, it heats up the frost on the ceiling and actually produces "rain" inside (COLD rain). So, not so much fun there. If your sun porch is large, can support the weight of the spa (and the water inside it) and is properly ventilated... go ahead! I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Dumb Thing #2 - Reviewed the posts on this topic after I treated my water. Then, of course, I got smart! Removed the Bromine floater and aerated for over an hour; pH came right back up to 7.4! Although foaming decreased a bit, I still have some and the Bromine is still very high. I am going to keep the floater out of the water until levels drop. I'm a bit confused, because You also have to leave the top off, not just remove the floater. The bromine levels will lower faster that way. If the levels are very high, I have to leave mine off at least 4 or 5 hours, if not more. Dumb Thing #3 - When I checked the bromine level on Wednesday, it was low, so I gave the floater just a couple more twists and thought that might do the trick. Before I escalate to Dumb Thing #4, can you tell me if turning off the air controls is necessary? Might limiting the amount of air circulating when the tub is not in use actually lower the pH level and made bromine levels rise? Waterbear may be able to answer you more precisely, but honestly, I never fiddled with the air controls and my ph is very stable now - although I did add some boric acid to stabilize. It did wonders. The fact that you added Borax would normally have helped also. At this point, I am at a wonderful 7.4 that doesn't really change - goes up a bit with intense use - let's say, 1 or more hours with all jets on - but goes right back down afterwards and stays put. The spa was unused for a full week, top on, floater in set at 2, and although the bromine level was fairly high when I tested at the end of the week (at 13), the PH was just fine. (I'll have to set the floater at 1 and see what happens). From what I can deduce, the bromine levels (in my case) will have a tendancy to rise since the floater is in, the oxidizer is being constantly added (tablets have bromine AND chlorine) with the bromine, in addition to the fact that I have an ozonator also, but there is not much happening to use up the bromine. I see this as a good thing... there does not seem to be anything nasty growing in the water to use up the bromine while the spa is unused... I also have read that the MPS is acidic, along with the bromine tablets I believe, which may contribute to your pH getting low (ALK also, btw). The MPS and the tablets are the biggest culprits here. Just check your PH a little more often, say twice a week, and see what happens. I would keep the air on, since the aeration contributes to raising the PH and would perhaps counteract the PH reduction caused by the MPS and tablets. I'm no chemist here, but from what I have read, it would be logical to assume this. Also, if you have read the forums, in some cases if the level of bromine is very high, it may bleach out your PH & Alk tests. I personally do not test the PH if the bromine is higher than 14. I don't remember if the limit is 10 or 20 - would have to look it up again but I decided to be lazy and go with "when in doubt... wait to 15 or less to test pH and re-test when below 10 just to make sure. I just want to blame someone else for my bubbles and bromine! lol Well, you can blame the uneducated pool store guys for a start - not all of them, but just the ones who think they have it all figured out, but who are actually just reciting the same old litany all the time... and trying to sell their overpriced products. That's what I did. Made me feel much better!

You know, it's not that I really want to use the MPS that much, it's just that I have 2kg of the stuff that I eventually have to get rid of... so sometimes, I alternate just for the heck of it... that's how I noticed the difference in foam. Bleach does a great job for me and I am happy with it... after all it is what helped correct my water problems. Anyone looking for 2kg MPS? Any takers?

Dear Southside, I will let Waterbear (or another MOD) confirm or correct what I'm about to write, but just as a quick reply: In my opinion, you don't really need the book for the testing, everything you need to know on how to actually do the tests is inside the lid - except for the little trick to circumvent the fading endpoint Waterbear mentioned in the posts above for the CH test - I believe that one is only inside the book. You can also watch the instructional videos Waterbear suggested to me, they will help you ensure you do the tests correctly. The booklet is a very interesting read if you want to know how your water reacts and products interact with it(and you should, imho). However, should you need to adjust your levels, the tables are at the back, which will at some point be required. But, not all is lost... you can also use the Pool Calculator HERE which will help you determine how much of what you need to achieve balanced levels. And yes, I think the book is indeed a "must read"... Hope you ordered the magnetic stirrer also; in addition to being a really cool gadget, it is very helpful especially when doing the bromine test (the DPD powder takes a while to dissolve) and CH test (lots of swirling). So, don't despair, you can do the tests anyways, follow the instructions in the lid... but get the book, it's worth it. A note to Waterbear: I have been doing some experimenting, and I note that if I use MPS to shock/oxidize instead of plain bleach, the foam has a tendency to return. Also, I read in a post somewhere here, that MPS seems to oxidize certain organics more effectively than bleach (not all, but some). Any thoughts on these 2 points?

Thanks ChemGeek for the prompt reply. Read the post (and related others). Seems to me like it would be an interesting option. However, I have searched for Brilliance products, so far to no avail (I live in Canada). I called one of the big pool/spa stores here and the guy had absolutely no idea what I was talking about(what a big surprise!) when I mentioned "bromine sanitizer containing no chlorine", nor did they hold any Brilliance products (and, surprise again, had never heard of it). Are there any other brands? Hillbilly mentions Seaklear as an alternative but that also has chlorine in it, albeit in lower concentrations. I would rather go for the DBDMH if I can. So, are there any other manufacturers that you know of, or is Brilliance the only product of its kind?