Water Chemistry. Need Some Help.

[Milly101]

o just drained and refilled hot tub. Followed the startup procedure from my dealer.

Includes adding Elimate1. ( i assume that is like metal gone )

Then I add Care Free Boost ( A granular chlorine formula that works with in conjunction with ‘Care-Free’ to kill and control bacteria and algae in hot tub water.)

Then I add Care Free (works in conjunction with above )

Then i add Soft ( A granular product that enhances bather comfort, reduces calcium buildup and protects against pH bounce)

After all this is said and done I test PH and CL, Levels are good. Then comes the hard part.

Problem 1: So i have these test strips to test for ALK, and they are never accurate, they are from aquacheck. I dip them, wait 15 seconds and compare to chart. I can never really tell where the ALK is, the color just really does not match any of the chart, if anything it looks to be high. So I decided to go out and buy the aquacheck trutest which actually gives a digital reading. Well that is not any better, I dip strip, flick excess water as per instructions, then read. In the matter of 5 minutes and 5 strips my ALK reading will go from 40-140. So i have no idea if which strip actually is accurate. Having to go to my dealer to get water tested weekly is not an option.

Problem 2: Calcium hardness, I have no way to test this other then to bring my water to my dealer to test, which makes it a pain in the butt.

So basically just wondering why am I having such a hard time with ALK. Is there a decent product out there that can give me some real accurate readings, some kinda Kit?? I just hate it if I have to go to my dealer all the time for water testing. Would much rather to test it at home my self and adjust accordingly.

[chem geek]

You should get the Taylor K-2006 test kit which is far better than test strips. You can see a comparison of test strips and the drop-based tests (K-2006 and TF-100) in this post. The Taylor K-2006 (and the TFTestkits TF-100) will test Free Chlorine (FC), Combined Chlorine (CC), pH, Total Alkalinity (TA), Calcium Hardness (CH) and Cyanuric Acid (CYA). These tests are have far greater resolution and accuracy than test strips. The FC and CC have a resolution of 0.2 ppm if you use a 25 ml sample size and they can measure up to 50 ppm.

Care Free Boost is nothing more that Dichlor. Note that for every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) that you add, this product also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 9 ppm and higher CYA levels make chlorine less effective so over time the sanitation and oxidation rates will drop and you'll need to change the water sooner than if you were to use the Dichlor-then-bleach method described in this post.

Care Free may be non-chlorine shock (potassium monopersulfate) -- see what it says for the ingredients on the label.

Soft may be a phosphate product or could be borates -- see what it says for the ingredients on the label.

If you change to the Dichlor-then-bleach method, then you won't need the above products though could use the Care Free Boost initially after refill for about a week as your Dichlor source and then one day a month to replenish some CYA. The rest of the time, you'd use bleach. You would initially use 50 ppm Borates in Proteam Gentle Spa (or possibly in the "Soft" product if it uses boric acid -- again, see what it says for the ingredients).

[quantumchromodynamics]

My recommendation is not to add any chemicals unless you know what they are, what they do and why you need them.

Soft is probably boric acid or phosphate. You should not use it unless you know what it is and why you need it.

Soft will increase your TA, so you need to measure the TA before and after adding it to know what contribution it makes to the TA.

[Milly101]

Thanx for the tips guys, before I start messing with changing chemicals I decided I better get the readings correct first. So i have decided to purchase a K 2006 kit, actually that is the exact kit my dealer used when testing my water

Can anyone recommend a place that sells it in Canada or a US site that will ship to Canada? Amatoind no longer ships to Canada.

[chem geek]

(This is a copy of my post to your same question here, but you should ask your dealer where he got his kit.)

You can usually get the Taylor K-2006 in Canada from Apollo Pools, but their website shows that the kit is out-of-stock. I just wrote to them to verify if it is truly out-of-stock and if so, then where people can buy it. [EDIT] They wrote back and said that out-of-stock just means they don't have it on their shelves to send out the same day, but they can still get it sent to you from Lowry & Associates though that usually takes 2-3 business days. [END-EDIT]

You could also try contacting Lowry & Associates directly (contact info here) as they are the sole distributor/importer for Taylor products in Canada.

Others will have to comment on ways to get the kit from the U.S. Given the exclusive distributorship and high fees from chemical import regulation you'd probably have to cross the border and buy it yourself. Even having someone ship it to you may break some sort of law. Read this post for some more background about this.

[waterbear]

Thanx for the tips guys, before I start messing with changing chemicals I decided I better get the readings correct first. So i have decided to purchase a K 2006 kit, actually that is the exact kit my dealer used when testing my water

Can anyone recommend a place that sells it in Canada or a US site that will ship to Canada? Amatoind no longer ships to Canada.

Because of an exclusivity agreement between Taylor and their Canadian distributor no US retailer can ship to Canada. I do know that Piscenes Apollo Pools (Montreal) does carry the Taylor line in Canada at competitive Canadian prices (which, unfortunately, are MUCH higher than US prices because of the exclusivity agreement between Taylor and their Canadian distributor (Lowry and Associates, Ontario). They also sell the kits mail order from their website. There are other Canadian dealers but I do not know of them.

[Milly101]

Thanx guys, I might be driving across the boarder in January, so maybe I will just pick one up in the US then. Unless I find a US dealer willing to ship to Canada. Apollo prices are just too crazy in comparison to the US.

Will keep you updated.

Cheers

[waterbear]

You will not find a US dealer that will ship to Canada because if they do they will lose their dealership because of the exclusivity agreement between Taylor and Lowry and Associates as the sole Canadian distributor. Lowry and Associates is the one who sets the Canadian prices.

Something to keep in mind... if you consider what the tub cost then look at the price of the kit it is STILL a bargain at Canadian prices for the most important piece of equipment you can own to make your water maintenance easy.

As an alterantive to the Taylor kit you might want to consider the LaMotte 7022 FAS-DPD test kit.

Here are the kit instructions.

It is available on Amazon for around $113 US and shipping charges.