Getting Started

[Jbuck]

Ok this is problally going to be too long but hope you will bare with me. I can't seem to get my water to behave. Drain and fill the HT, everything great for one week, starting to cloud a little the second, really fizzy and almost white when the pumps are on by the third. My wife and I only, no swimsuits and a shower with no soap prior to getting in. I soak every day, my wife three times per week. I boutght my HT used and these are the chemicals that came with it, Leasure Time brand Enzyme, Sodium Bromide, Reserve, Calcium & Scale Preventative, Foam Down, Bright & Clear and Brom Tabs also SpaGuard brand Enhanced Shock along with PH increaser and decreaser. I plan on draining again this weekend and starting over, I also plan on scrubbing the whole inside with a water and bleach solution. Do I have enough chemicals already on hand or do I need to get something else? My HT is rated at 225 gal. what and how much should I add when I refill? I know how to handle raising and lowering the PH but not sure what else and in what order I need to do. I am assuming I should get more than three weeks of good clear water after a change.

[simonc]

Ok this is problally going to be too long but hope you will bare with me. I can't seem to get my water to behave. Drain and fill the HT, everything great for one week, starting to cloud a little the second, really fizzy and almost white when the pumps are on by the third. My wife and I only, no swimsuits and a shower with no soap prior to getting in. I soak every day, my wife three times per week. I boutght my HT used and these are the chemicals that came with it, Leasure Time brand Enzyme, Sodium Bromide, Reserve, Calcium & Scale Preventative, Foam Down, Bright & Clear and Brom Tabs also SpaGuard brand Enhanced Shock along with PH increaser and decreaser. I plan on draining again this weekend and starting over, I also plan on scrubbing the whole inside with a water and bleach solution. Do I have enough chemicals already on hand or do I need to get something else? My HT is rated at 225 gal. what and how much should I add when I refill? I know how to handle raising and lowering the PH but not sure what else and in what order I need to do. I am assuming I should get more than three weeks of good clear water after a change.

Jbuck -

A few thoughts/suggestions ...

1. I don't think your post is too long. You should see some really long ones on this forum!

2. Cloudy water is often an indication that you are having sanitation problems, i.e., there are things growing in your water because of sanitation problems.

3. If this is a used tub, you should decontaminate it before you refill again. Here's a link.

4. Once you get your tub decontaminated, you should make sanitation your #1 priority. You can get sick from bacteria, virus, and fungus growing in your tub if it's not sanitatized correctly. Here's a link to the best writeup on the subject of water maintenance. The article is long and a little intimidating, but look at the summary section. If you decide to use the suggested diclor-then-bleach sanitation method, it's really very easy and not any harder than other method, some of which are less effective.

Good luck,

- Simon