Fresh Fill

[rckymtntim]

Hi all,

I'm draining my spa as I write this. Is there a certain order I should use to adjust my water balance i.e. dichlor then CH then TA or TA then CH then dichlor? at what temp should I begin balancing?

Sorry if this has already been asked.

[InHotH20]

Sorry, I don't know the correct answers to most of your questions. I did want to add, though, that I've now hit the 4 month mark of spa ownership and did my first drain and fill. I added dichlor after the temperature rose to 90 degrees, and then waited a day before checking the pH and alkalinity. I had already added Metalgon when adding in the water. Let me tell you, the fresh water is great! No foaming, and hopefully this time we can keep out those with soapy suits!

[gman]

After a fresh fill, I've found that I get my water chemistry in balance sooner if I first address the TA level. My CH out of the tap is about 250, so it's in a workable range and I really don't mess with that. The TA is also about 250 out of the tap. Your water may not have as high a TA as I do, so it may not matter what you address first. Once I get the TA in a suitable range (about 50 ppm, in my case) getting the pH, FC, CYA, etc., is easy and routine.

If you do have a high level of TA, like I do, you need to add a significant amount of dry acid to get the TA to drop. You have to do it in stages, i.e, not all in one session. The stages will not be in equal amounts. You'll add decisively heavier doses initially to get the TA to drop significantly. With a very high TA, small doses of acid will have little effect in dropping the TA. So, if your conservative and the acid doses are too small, you'll end up going through a lot more acid and spending a lot more time to reach your target. With a high TA level, larger initial doses of acid will drop your TA significantly. Then, as you get close to your target range, you can apply the smaller incremental amounts as they will be effective in reducing the TA. The smaller doses will also guard against overshooting your target level. Check your pH along the way.

Once the TA is good, the FC, etc., is easy.

Good luck with the re-fill. 8^)

gman

[gman]

Oh...I forgot to mention...you'll want to get your water temperature at your preferred soak temp...100 degrees F, whatever...when you start balancing your water.

gman

[BlueSpa]

Oh...I forgot to mention...you'll want to get your water temperature at your preferred soak temp...100 degrees F, whatever...when you start balancing your water.

gman

I also had questions about the "order" of chemical additions after reading an older post that I believe recommended 12hrs between pH adjustments and Calcium additions, and was planning a refill in the next couple days.

But raising the water temperature this high before I START balancing the water would mean that our spa will be circulating our well water (tap temperature 50ish degrees, pH about 6.8, no calcium, TA readings about 10) for many hours before getting to 90+ degrees. Not sure if it's correct but I've always started adding the Bicarb and Ca once it was full enough for the recirculating pump to run. I've always made final readings with the water up to temperature, but should I really wait to start balancing???

I was also wondering about the sequence for adding DiChlor and Borates. Have used GentleSpa in the past after adding the DiChlor and getting my pH readings adjusted, but have found that it tended to raise the pH a bit and not sure I liked the other fragrances and fillers. Have just ordered some Boric Acid from AAAChemical to try with this fill so will see what the addition does to the pH. (After adding the Borates I'd rather not have to adjust the pH too much so I've generally tried to have it near the end point that I was shooting for.) The borates do work wonderfully in keeping the pH more stable on a day-to-day basis, so will definitely keep using them!!

Adding the DiChlor to 10ppm for the new N2 cartridge lowers the pH if done before the borates, but I really don't know the proper or if there is a recommended sequence to follow for adding everything (other than adding each chemical a couple ounces at a time and waiting 20 min or so between each addition).

Thanks!!

[PaulR]

You should get your pH and TA where you want before doing borates, because the buffering effect of borates will interfere with attempting to change pH on purpose. The relative order of dichlor and borates doesn't really matter.

--paulr