Phos Free = Foam

[Claude]

Hi,

I wonder if someone can help me out. I have several bodies of water (Pool and Spas)to maintain, and we have been using Goldrite (SWG)for over two years now with quite a bit of success.

We keep an eye on the phosphate level on a regular basis (as we found it was a major component of salt water chemistry), and we use Phosfree or Salt water Magic to keep the readings to a minimum. We have noticed as soon as we pour one of them in the hot tubs, it gets really foamy. We use a foam free product but I found a bit annoying to have to add another silicone based product which provide result only temporarly. I am not not even sure that does not create other issue down on the road (clogging filter or ??).

Do you guys have the same issue in your SWG hot tubs?? Is there any other natural chemical that can control the phosphate level without generating so much foam??

Thank you

Claude

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Hi,

I wonder if someone can help me out. I have several bodies of water (Pool and Spas)to maintain, and we have been using Goldrite (SWG)for over two years now with quite a bit of success.

We keep an eye on the phosphate level on a regular basis (as we found it was a major component of salt water chemistry), and we use Phosfree or Salt water Magic to keep the readings to a minimum. We have noticed as soon as we pour one of them in the hot tubs, it gets really foamy. We use a foam free product but I found a bit annoying to have to add another silicone based product which provide result only temporarly. I am not not even sure that does not create other issue down on the road (clogging filter or ??).

Do you guys have the same issue in your SWG hot tubs?? Is there any other natural chemical that can control the phosphate level without generating so much foam??

Thank you

Claude

You could check with Sea Klear. They have a phosphate remover for spas and pools. I am not sure how they work, I have never used them myself, but their clarifier is the best.

[Claude]

Thank you. We've just got off the phone with the rep. At the moment they are not distributed in Canada.

We would like to give it a go to see if it makes any diference. I will look up for an online dealer.

Thanks again

Claude

You could check with Sea Klear. They have a phosphate remover for spas and pools. I am not sure how they work, I have never used them myself, but their clarifier is the best.

[chem geek]

Claude,

Unless you have extraordinarily high phosphate levels of 3000 ppb or more, there should be no need for you to use a phosphate remover. If you are getting algae growth or unusually high chlorine demand (often with dull or cloudy water), then this usually means your chlorine level is too low relative to the CYA level. For an SWG pool, the 1-3 ppm FC with 60-80 ppm CYA recommendation is inadequate and will often lead to algae growth. The minimum FC level in an SWG pool is around 4.5% of the CYA level (manually dosed non-SWG pools need a minimum FC of 7.5% of the CYA level) so figure that you need at least 3 ppm FC or higher at a minimum. If the CYA level is lower than the usually recommended 60-80 for an SWG pool, then you may be losing too much chlorine to the UV in sunlight as well.

You can also manage algae growth by adding 30-50 ppm Borates to the pool (using 20 Mule Team Borax plus Muriatic Acid added alternately since the Borax raises pH) or you can use a PolyQuat 60 algaecide, but these are not necessary unless you do not maintain proper chlorine levels.

As for spas, the problem may be continued use of Dichlor which has the CYA get up too high. Using Dichlor for a week or two and then switching to unscented bleach will keep the CYA level in check and make the disinfecting chlorine level consistent. Otherwise, for every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor it also adds 9 ppm to CYA so if you add 4 ppm FC per day then you add over 100 ppm CYA per month which makes chlorine less effective and can lead to cloudy water from algae growth (and can also make more Combined Chlorine that does not break down as fast due to the high CYA level). You mentioned SWG spas so that would be similar to what was mentioned for pools -- keeping an FC level appropriate for the CYA level, but in spas you don't want the CYA level to get up as high -- probably not above 50 ppm. Chlorine usage in a spa is always high due to the higher bather load (smaller water volume) -- for a 350 gallons spa, figure on 1-2 ppm FC with no use (depending on temperature) plus 2-4 ppm FC per person per day depending on soak time and amount of sweat.

Richard