New Problem. Cloudy Water.

[ivieisme]

Well, I brought my alk and PH up, finally. On 4 different brand strips all levels seem OK, except hardness which is low. Until now, when my water had a VERY low Alk & PH, my water was crystal clear. I opened my tub this morning to cloudy water.

I have a Caldera Niagra w/24 hour filt, ozone, frog and dichlor/mps. I haven't checked or used my tub since Wed or Thurs when I shocked. Today is Sunday.

I am also going away from Thurs-Tuesday this coming week, so I don't want to drain and refill, only to have problems when I return. Any suggestions? What causes cloudy water?

I also have foam when the jets are on, but just added defoamer (to the cloudy water) and dichlor. Still cloudy, though the foam has decreased.

[chem geek]

Cloudy water is generally from one of the following:

1) Over-saturation of calcium carbonate. This is high pH, Total Alkalinity (TA) and Calcium Hardness (CH) or some combination. Since your CH is low, this is unlikely, but the fact that this occurred when the pH and TA went up sounds suspicious. Too bad you don't have a Taylor K-2006 test kit or other drop-based test kit to accurately determine the TA and CH levels.

2) Algae growth. When algae starts to grow, it first turns the water dull looking, then cloudy, and finally green (for green algae). This is unusual in a hot tub since the cover is usually on so there is minimal sunlight and the water temperature is generally hotter than most algae like (however, in this post you describe keeping the water cooler than the more typical 104F so perhaps algae is your issue). It is not unheard of, however. This will usually occur if there is not chlorine in the water most of the time at a sufficient level relative to CYA (so using only Dichlor that builds up CYA can lead to this as can not using enough chlorine by using MPS instead, etc.). If there is unusually high chlorine consumption, even when the tub is not used, then this is usually algae (unless there is a buildup of organics/ammonia that hasn't been cleared up earlier).

3) Poor filtration. If non-soluble substances build up in the water, then if the filter is not working properly or is filled at capacity (i.e. needs cleaning) then the water can become cloudy. [EDIT] A clarifier can help consolidate suspended particles, but they usually will break down with chlorine if given sufficient time. [END-EDIT]

Richard

[TinyBubbles]

Well, I brought my alk and PH up, finally. On 4 different brand strips all levels seem OK, except hardness which is low. Until now, when my water had a VERY low Alk & PH, my water was crystal clear. I opened my tub this morning to cloudy water.

I have a Caldera Niagra w/24 hour filt, ozone, frog and dichlor/mps. I haven't checked or used my tub since Wed or Thurs when I shocked. Today is Sunday.

I am also going away from Thurs-Tuesday this coming week, so I don't want to drain and refill, only to have problems when I return. Any suggestions? What causes cloudy water?

I also have foam when the jets are on, but just added defoamer (to the cloudy water) and dichlor. Still cloudy, though the foam has decreased.

Hi Ivie, I got cloudy water once, in my case it was clearly caused by my fastgloss application. I added a little clarifier and then ran the jets for about 45 minutes to an hour. I rinsed the filters off during this time. Water cleared right up and has stayed clear. You mentioned dichlor and mps, how often do you add them? Did you shock with MPS or dichlor on Wed. or Thurs? How old is your water?

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

We find that the most common cause of cloudy water is from contaminates in the water such as risdual soap from swim suits, hair & body, someone that uses body lotion using the tub without showering and heavy use. Each person using a hot tub sweats about a pint per 1/2 hour use. If you try a clarifier, it will help. It helps collect the small unfilterable particles into a larger mass so the filter can pick it up.

[ivieisme]

Well, I had to add a ton of dichlor yesterday for my readings to stay between 3-5 after 30 minutes. Before treating, I rinsed my filter, which was a little dirty (in stripes, is that normal?) I also added a little mps and de-foamer, and ran all jets for 1-2 hours total.

Today, I opened up the spa to clear water, but it took 24 hours, and it smells like chlorine even though my strips again show no chlorine!

I will bring my water in to be tested tomorrow and pick up a taylor kit. Is there a certain one to ask for? I will go to pinch-a-penny.

[chem geek]

Don't use any more Dichlor; use unscented bleach instead. Your spa's CYA level is probably already too high and that makes the chlorine less effective requiring much higher FC levels to kill algae and prevent its further growth. The general rule of thumb for shocking a pool or spa to kill an existing algae bloom is an FC level that is 40% of the CYA level so if the CYA level is already high, then a partial drain/refill is usually recommended to lower the CYA level. One can still kill the algae with an FC of 20% of the CYA level, but it is much slower. To keep algae away requires a minimum FC of 7.5% of the CYA level.

Richard

[TinyBubbles]

Well, I had to add a ton of dichlor yesterday for my readings to stay between 3-5 after 30 minutes. Before treating, I rinsed my filter, which was a little dirty (in stripes, is that normal?) I also added a little mps and de-foamer, and ran all jets for 1-2 hours total.

Today, I opened up the spa to clear water, but it took 24 hours, and it smells like chlorine even though my strips again show no chlorine!

I will bring my water in to be tested tomorrow and pick up a taylor kit. Is there a certain one to ask for? I will go to pinch-a-penny.

That's not unusual at all to have readings of 3-5 ppm and then 0 the next day. The confusing thing is the smell. Are you testing for FC and CC? Any chance what you are smelling is the ozone? It can build up under the cover and then you can get a good wiff of it when you open it up. I get foam when the jets are on too, but it goes away when they are off, so I never pay it any attention. With friends getting in the tub with suits on, it's gonna happen. When you get back, it's probably a good time for a drain and refill and start over with a clean slate. From all the posts here, it seems really common for the firt fill not to last very long. How did you clean your filter? I've soaked mine in bleach before and then smelled bleach for awhile after that. Look on the bright side, the fact that you got clear water is a step in the right direction!

[B0Darc]

Chem geek is probably right and your CYA level is blocking the sanitizing effects of chlorine which indicates it time to change the water. It might be good to think about using a flush which (according to the manufacturer) dissolves the hard to kill/reach biological layer inside your pipes etc. The flush is usually an over night thing and the water has to be to temperature.

If you don't want to drain because it's too cold out now and you're worried about that, just half-drain and half-refill (no enzyme flush!), that might get ya back into the ballpark of water manageability until warmer weather. See why you can benefit from a test kit? It really can save you work... as you may have fixed your problem and need to do nothing else! and only the tests referred to above (CYA / TA / CH) can tell you if you have an unmanageable problem (drain!)