Simmer

Thank you. That clarifies part of what I observed. When we converted to the ozonator in March, I used some purple paste product called Serum which was supposed to clear out all the contaminates in the piping. We got a little bit of brownish bits that came out when we did that according to the product instructions., but nothing like what their instructional videos show. Our tub isnt neglected so we figured perhaps it wasnt too bad internally. We flushed everything, washed down the walls and refilled and started with the ozonator and using dichlor. Yup.... after 2 months the CYA was reading too high, which prompted us to drain and refill again. This time I did not use the Serum paste, though. I did get a bottle of liquid pool chlorine too bc I understand the CYA build up. So... would the conclusion be that there is something lurking in the piping that is using up the chlorine and I need to once again do the internal pipe cleaning thing again? That means another drain and refill. I should still be maintaining the 3-5ppm free chlorine reading regardless of ozonator use?

Hello... yes I completely drained and refilled the water after we switched to the ozonator. I have since drained and refilled the tub again, so this is my second tub full of ozonator sanitized water. My post refers to immediately after draining and refilling the tub and balancing the alkalinity and ph. I have used both Aqua Chek test strips and a Taylor test kit for testing. I am using granular chlorine/dichlor. I add it, run the pumps for 10 minutes and double check my readings with a test strip. My test strip read 3 ppm combined chlorine and 0 ppm free chlorine. An hour later I retested and free chlorine and combine chlorine both read 0 again. is there something about the ozonator/silver ion system that interferes with chlorine testing or gives a false test strip reading? Should I be using MPS instead of chlorine?

I have a Hot Springs spa that originally came with the ACE salt water system. That system did not work at all with the chemical/mineral makeup of our community well water. A few months ago we switched to an ozonator and a silver ion system instead, and that has worked well for us. The water is clear. There is no ring around the tub. Water smells good. TA and PH are all nicely stable. All great. Can someone explain to me what goes on with the chlorine I add? If I add chlorine when my tests strip indicates there is zero (free or combined) chlorine, the next test strip I use will show the appropriate amount of chlorine added only as combined chlorine and not free chlorine. Why is that? I have googled to find an answer and searched this forum, but did not find an answer. Hope someone has some insight. Thanks!

So, my spa store gave me a free sample of some InSPAration spa bombs. I drained and refilled my spa 1 week ago. Did the so called deep clean to remove any hidden biofilm (nothing showed up), rinsed well, cleaned the walls, and refilled. Had the water balanced and crystal clear, no foam, nothing.... just beautiful clean smelling hot water. Went to soak in the tub 48 hours ago. So I added this cute little pink ball of fizz. Eh, not much scent, whatever. It was free, so ..... Three hours later, I went to check the tub because we were having guests that evening. The water was totally murky. PH up to 8+ . Worked to get that back in range. Now, two days later, TA is 110, Ph, 7.6, FC 6, CC 0.4, hardness 30, salt 1500 (natural to residential water/not added)..............and the water is totally murky and still looks like used bathwater . Can anyone tell me what happened here? InSPAration swears their spa bombs will not mess up water chemistry, but that is the only thing I did different. I am using liquid chlorine as a sanitizer. 12.5%Sodium hypochlorite. Using a Taylor Test kit and a chemical calculation app to determine how much chems to add. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Yay! I think I finally got it. It took alot of PH decreaser to get in range , but I was starting with a TA of 230 in our source water. Also only took 2/3 of the amount of salt suggested to get the chlorine generator working in the right range. I took another 45 mile drive to the pool and spa store to have them test my water sample and all is good. Phosphates were 100, but that is way better than over 5000! I am happy at the moment that everything is in range. It is supposed to snow tomorrow, and I plan to sit in the tub and watch it snow.......fingers crossed!

OK. Got a warmish day in the upper 40's. Drained and refilled the tub. Treated the cold water with phosphate remover. Water became very alkaline afterward - as in I treated it to reduce PH and total alkalinity twice before I could get it to even read on the high end of the test strip. I had a 20 ounce bottle of Brilliance PH Decreaser and have used 3/4 of it. The total alkalinity has come down to almost okay at 140, but the PH is still around 8.4 What gives? Is this normal? Our source water has a ph of 7.6 and a total alkalinity of 230, but those numbers went sky high after the phosphate remover was put in. I am so discouraged. I do not want to recreate the situation I had before where I had to dump the water because we couldn't get it balanced. It is normal to have to add a lot of chems to get the water in balance? I am in a rural community on a community well if that makes any difference. Also - my pool store says the wait 2-3 hours after adding PH decreasers to re-test the water. The bottle says circulate the water for 30 minutes and re-test. Whose directions do I follow? Why would waiting hours make a difference? Thanks for any insight. I just want to soak in my tub of clean warm water.......

The product used for phosphates is called EZ Spa Start. It was supposed to remove metals, phosphates and organic debris and scale. Honestly, it looks like I just created liquid soap. The spa store called me to follow up and I told them the water hasn't cleared up at all. They thought it would take 48 hours. We are coming up on 96 with no change. I have cleaned the filters, but there was nothing to clean, really. There is no "ring around the tub" or anything - just water that looks like bathwater after you use a lot of soap. It doesn't smell like anything, but it feels a little "thick". With all the stuff that has been added to the water, I asked if I am at the point where I just need to dump the water and start over and they said no, to just give it a few more days and they will follow up in another 48. We are in single digits here, so refilling isn't really an option and I can't drain it and shut it down either.

I have a Hot Springs Grandee NXT which is one size up from the Envoy. One comment to add regarding the Envoy. We originally intended to buy the Envoy, but after sitting in it discovered that the lounge seat is too short for a man over 6 foot, and 5'4" woman needed a scuba weight belt to keep from floating up. So glad we sat in it before we bought. Very happy with the Grandee's seating and jet features. It is also a little deeper than the Envoy, so if you have tall people, that might be a consideration. Grandee is supposed to seat 6-7, but with 4-5 people it is plenty crowded. The two of us each have a back massager MotoJet, so no fighting for that seat. I like that I can bring the touchscreen into the house and keep an eye on the spa, too. Ours is a model 2018 with the ACE system, which I was told was replaced by a different salt water system for 2019. I am a newbie and this is my first hot tub, but I am happy with the features. We looked an an awful lot of spas before we bought.

450 gallons. They want us to rent a filter/softener unit from them when filling. So..... best bet is to give up and drain and start over? If I have to treat for phosphates again, won't I just end up with white water all over again?

I am a very new hot tub owner, having only owned my tub for 3 months. From the start we have had problems with foam and off color water, and the ph bounced around a lot. I have a Hot Springs tub with the salt water ACE system. When the tub was filled, it was run through a softener the dealer provided, although we have softened municipal well water anyway. As soon as they added the salt to get the ACE system running, the water took on a slightly off color, maybe sort of grayish in color. Took a trip a few weeks ago, had the tub water balanced so I thought, added a little extra chlorine because we were leaving and turned down the output on the ACE system. Came back a week later, lifted the cover to discover brown murky water that smelled like a fish tank. No chlorine, ph and total alkilinity so high it was almost off the test strip. Immediately started reducing the PH, turned the ACE system output back up. Took an entire week, but I got the water to clear, but I could not get any free chlorine reading, and the water was bubble bath foamy. Took a sample of water to the store. Ph was 7.7, total alkalinity 96, calcium hardness 13, Free chlorine 1.33, total chlorine 15.01. Phosphates 5251. They told me the high phosphates needed to be treated. told me to dump an entire 8 ounce bottle of EZ tub Start in and it would work for 48 hours. I went home and did that. The water turned the color of skim milk. Foam was so bad that it spilled over the sides of the tub. 48 hours later, the water is still murky white. The foaming is not gone, but 90% reduced. They told me to put in a non chlorine oxidizer and check it after two hours. But now the PH is 6.2, there is still no free chlorine. I called the store and they said now I have to raise the PH before I can add chlorine. I don't have any pool store chemical for that, so I added some baking soda, which they said was ok. But now the foaming is worse again I am following their written instructions to the letter. Do I just need to wait for this to work again and allow days to go by? Why is the water so cloudy now when it was clear before I treated for phosphates? Checked with our local water people.... they add phosphates to the water to clean the water lines. Is it the phosphates causing all the foam? It is winter here, and I am not in a position to drain the tub. Is there a way to salvage this so we can at least use it? Thanks for anyone's insight into what is going on.