First Time Spa Owner Help

[havabeer]

hi everyone. foudn this forum as i'm some advice and help about maintaining a spa.

i'm australian so measurements might be a little different but will do my best to convert them.

i have a small 3 person spa (700 litres, 184gal) that we purchased off some friends. and owned for about 6months. my friend who works for a pool cleaning shop gave me 2 products to use to keep my spa water decent these are:

spa shock, actvive consituant potassium peroxy, monosulphate 45.2% inert ingredients 54.0% actuve oxyben 4.75%

spa sanitiser, active consit: 350g/kg available chlorine present as litium hypocholorite.

he told me just to throw a cap full of the sanitiser in ever 2 or 3 days, cap full is about 100grams. and the spa shock in once a week or after heavy use. and thats what i did for a couple of months though the spa saw very little use as it was winter and rather cold out side. so the water has been sitting there untreated for about 2 months and i have just finished draining it out.

i have a test kit that came with the spa, though it has no instructions, blue devil is the kit brand and i am missing one of the test fluids, this is the first time i've really actually looked at it. i'm hoping to keep the water up around the 35 - 36 degrees (about 100 Fahrenheit)

are there any changes i should make to my water treatment schedual?

am i ok to give the tub a clean with something like dettol (antiseptic) before i fill the water back up again?

should i go out and get another test kit or tabs? if i do how often do i check the water and i have no real idea on how to balance the water out once it has been tested.

i'll keep reading a few of the guides on here and see if i can wrap my head around them

thanks heaps for any information you can provide and if i haven't given enough info will gladly supply more

[Nitro]

Welcome to the forum. You can start by reading the links below. If you have any question let us know.

[havabeer]

so after a little bit of reading and kind of getting my head around it, i went out and bought a test kit

got a test kit.

my free chlorine was up above 5.0, way darker pink then the color on the tester

ph was over 8.2

and can't remember what the total akalinity was.

but so far over the last couple of days and emptying some of the water i've gotten the chlorine down to about 4.0, the ph to 7.6 and TA 120ppm

do these numbers sound right for my sized spa? the chlorine still needs to come down a little i know.

[Nitro]

Don't worry about getting your Chlorine level down. It will come down naturally over time, and even faster as soon as you start soaking. The key is to keep it up (above zero) at all times.

Regarding your pH/TA. Your pH is fine, however having the TA up at 120 ppm may cause your pH to rise once you start using the tub's air/jets. (i.e. aerate) Therefore you may need to lower your TA.

I'm assuming you plan on using the Dichlor/Bleach method. If so, here it is in a nut shell:

1. Balance water by lowering TA to ~80 ppm. See link below (Lowering TA)

2. Aerate until pH is consistently 7.4-7.8. Lower TA if pH rises above 7.8. Raise TA if pH stays below 7.4.

3. Test Calcium, and make note of it. (100-150 ppm) is ok.

4. Add 50ppm Borates (highly recommended)

5. Shock tub to 10 ppm FC using Dichlor the first night after filling.

6. Wait 24 hours and test FC again in order to calculate Chlorine Demand. (See link below)

7. Start using tub.

8. Continue to use Dichlor after soaks (approx 7 ppm FC per person per hour) (or 3.5 tsp)

9. After you have added ~34 ppm FC (~30 ppm CYA) using Dichlor, switch to Clorox 6% unscented bleach. Takes about a week or so.

After the initial startup procedure above, you'll basically be doing the following:

Checking FC every day or two (and before soaks).

Checking CD as needed (once a week to start).

Adding plenty of Chlorine after soaks (and as needed) so FC never drops to zero, and CD stays low.

Adding MPS before/during high bather loads to help out the Chlorine, and keep CD low. (Optional but recommended)

Checking pH once a week, and adjusting TA as needed.

Rinsing filter every week or two, depending on use.

Checking CYA every 3 months, and raise by using Dichor if needed. CYA will drop slowly over time.

After 6 months, change water and start over.

If this is a new tub change water after the first month, then continue bi-yearly.

Consider using a Spa Flush to clean out pipes before draining 1-2 times a year.

Clean filter with TSP every water change.

Lastly, if you let the FC drop to zero for any length of time, the tub is used or you're having serious medical issues (i.e. rashes etc.), consider doing a Decontamination. (see below)

Hope that helps.

[quantumchromodynamics]

One thing I would suggest is that people using the dichlor then bleach method not lower their alkalinity to 60 until they switch over to bleach.

Since dichlor is acidic, it might be better to target about 80 ppm while using dichlor and then lower the alkalinity to 60 once they begin to use bleach.

80 ppm would also be helpful if the person is planning to use boric acid on a new fill because the boric acid will lower the pH some on addition.

[Nitro]

One thing I would suggest is that people using the dichlor then bleach method not lower their alkalinity to 60 until they switch over to bleach.

Since dichlor is acidic, it might be better to target about 80 ppm while using dichlor and then lower the alkalinity to 60 once they begin to use bleach.

80 ppm would also be helpful if the person is planning to use boric acid on a new fill because the boric acid will lower the pH some on addition.

You have a good point. Although I do find even a TA of 60 ppm tends to be a little high when using Bleach. After a week of Dichlor, it usually dials in pretty well.

Why don't we split the difference and say 70 ppm? lol

[quantumchromodynamics]

70 sounds good. Most people will probably have to fine-tune their balance anyway.

I think that that's the most important thing for people to remember. Each tub will have its own balance point based on factors such as aeration etc.

I would be interested to hear from people using the dichlor/bleach method as to their results.

Here is a quote from Richard about the subject:

You bring up a good point that adjusting the TA initially to get it lower but then using Dichlor to build up CYA will tend to have the pH drop thereby requiring addition of Borax as you have been doing. You are right that this should be mentioned in Nitro's procedure. There are two choices here. One is to just add Borax to adjust the pH back up. The other is to wait to lower the TA until after the Dichlor has been used to build up the CYA. The latter is probably easier to manage and avoids having to use the Borax. Of course, the specific requirement depends on the initial TA and amount of aeration, but I do think that waiting to adjust the TA until after the Dichlor time would be a little easier.

[Mikey_in_NY]

New tub owner who's been using the bleach/chlorox method for 12 weeks now. TA holds very steady at 70-80, PH very steady at 7.4-7.6. Shock once per week with MPS (using Silver cartridge), tub has ozonator and 24 hour circ pump. Tub is used every day. Water is crystal clear with no odor.

After figuring out the right balance I haven't had to add anything other than MPS and Chlorox for at least 5 weeks now - chemistry almost seems to look after itself, and am now at the point where I only check the balance once per week.

Very happy with this method.

[Mikey_in_NY]

New tub owner who's been using the bleach/chlorox method for 12 weeks now. TA holds very steady at 70-80, PH very steady at 7.4-7.6. Shock once per week with MPS (using Silver cartridge), tub has ozonator and 24 hour circ pump. Tub is used every day. Water is crystal clear with no odor.

After figuring out the right balance I haven't had to add anything other than MPS and Chlorox for at least 5 weeks now - chemistry almost seems to look after itself, and am now at the point where I only check the balance once per week.

Very happy with this method.

Sorry - I meant Dichlor/Bleach method NOT bleach chlorox!

[mcw53]

New tub owner who's been using the Dichlor/bleach method for 12 weeks now. TA holds very steady at 70-80, PH very steady at 7.4-7.6. Shock once per week with MPS (using Silver cartridge), tub has ozonator and 24 hour circ pump. Tub is used every day. Water is crystal clear with no odor.

After figuring out the right balance I haven't had to add anything other than MPS and Chlorox for at least 5 weeks now - chemistry almost seems to look after itself, and am now at the point where I only check the balance once per week.

Very happy with this method.

Excellent Mikey! I'm getting exactly the same results after 20 weeks.