Hot Tub Chemistry Problems

[Elation Hot Tub]

I have a Caldrea Elation Hot Tub. Currently the water is cloudy and when I start up the jets I am having a lot of foaming.

I am adding the following chemicals on a weekly bases:

Water Clarifier

Stain and Scale Remover

MPS Shock

pH decreaser

foam remover (only when the foaming is very bad)

Current settings on my Spa Frog:

Minerals: 6 (Highest it will go)

Bromine: 3 (middle)

Bromine level is about 3 to 4 when I check it and Alkinity is about 125. Locally hot tub place told me to place my filter in the dishwasher to clean it. It cleaned the filter very well but no improvement to the water clarity or the foming problem. I cannot get the pH down for more than 24 hours. It is currently about an 8.2 - 8.5. When I add a pH decreaser to get it down it usually works for about 24 hours and then goes back up. The foaming is getting to be a pain in the butt. No matter how much MPS Shock I use the foaming never gets better.

I have been good about draining it every three months aand refilling. I have only used it once since my last refill and it is doing this again. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I do not figure a way to get the chemicals under control I will sell the hot tub.

Thanks

[PaulR]

The Total Alkalinity (TA) at 125 is pretty high, that is probably why pH keeps rising. Daily doses of pH decreaser should lower that over time and the pH should become more stable.

Foaming could be because the water is too soft. If you get a Calcium Hardness (CH) test you want it to be in the 100-150 range.

[hrustar]

My TA has been locked in at 125 for a few weeks now, with a steady PH of 7.4. I added 50 ppm of borates, and I think that really helped hold my numbers. You may want to try that.

[simonc]

I am adding the following chemicals on a weekly bases:

Water Clarifier

Stain and Scale Remover

MPS Shock

pH decreaser

foam remover (only when the foaming is very bad)

I few observations ...

1. Cloudy water and foaming is often related to things like bacteria or algae growing in your tub. I would do a good chlorine shock to kill everything and see if that improves your situation. Chlorine shock (which kills micro-organisms) is NOT the same as MPS Shock (which oxidizes bather waste, like sweat). I'm not familiar with Bromine systems (I have a chlorine tub) so I'm not sure if you can shock a bromine tub with chlorine. Maybe someone familiar with bromine tubs can answer this one. Make sure you check this out BEFORE adding chlorine to your tub!

2. Typically, you only add stain and scale remover when you first fill the tub and then add a little more when you need to add more water. Why are you adding it weekly? Also, do not add stain/scale remove and calcium at the same time. (One of the posts suggested you increase calcium to reduce foam. This may be a good idea IF you have soft water. If you add CA, don't add the scale remover for a few days.)

3. There's another current thread in this forum, see here regarding bromine and foam. It may have some good advice for you.

Good luck,

- Simon

[gman]

I know this is too obvious and I suspect you've eliminated this as a possibility, but just to cover the bases....foaming can easily occur from soap. I had no problems with foaming until I changed the soap that I used in the shower. I found this particular soap was a little more resilient to rinsing than the previous brand. As soon as I changed soaps for my pre-soak shower, the foaming ceased immediately.

gman

[Elation Hot Tub]

Thanks for all the help. Hot Tub is now better.