Princess22 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Hi! My name is Jennifer. We got a hot tub, 425 gallons on November 29, 2011. It has an ozonator, so it doesn't use as many chemicals as normal hot tub. We didn't have any previous problems with the water quality,except for foaming, which was solved without problems. But about 4 days ago, we noticed green waterhttp://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif. We use 80ml of Spa Perfect (Enzyme Technology) on Tuesdays, and 2 lids, 70 grams, of Easy Shock (Lithium Hypochlorite), on fridays. This is what we were told to do by the people who installed the hot tub. We used it about 2-3 times per week. Now, we use it about once a week. I tested the water and theses are the rates i got: Cl 0; TCl 0.5; Alc 160; pH 8.2; Du 50. What could be the problem of the greenish water ?http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif It has a light stink to it. I would appreciate answers as soon as possible. Thanks in advance. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonc Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Hi! My name is Jennifer. We got a hot tub, 425 gallons on November 29, 2011. It has an ozonator, so it doesn't use as many chemicals as normal hot tub. We didn't have any previous problems with the water quality,except for foaming, which was solved without problems. But about 4 days ago, we noticed green waterhttp://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif. We use 80ml of Spa Perfect (Enzyme Technology) on Tuesdays, and 2 lids, 70 grams, of Easy Shock (Lithium Hypochlorite), on fridays. This is what we were told to do by the people who installed the hot tub. We used it about 2-3 times per week. Now, we use it about once a week. I tested the water and theses are the rates i got: Cl 0; TCl 0.5; Alc 160; pH 8.2; Du 50. What could be the problem of the greenish water ?http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif It has a light stink to it. I would appreciate answers as soon as possible. Thanks in advance. Jennifer Jennifer - Sorry you're having problems with your water. Here are some suggestions that may help: 1. "Green water" can be caused by algae or by copper dissolved in your water. Some spa products use copper ions as a sanitizer. Typically, this does not work well. From your list of chemicals my guess (it's only a guess) is that you aren't using copper based products. Because your Cl is zero ... not a good thing ... there's a good chance you have some type of algae or something else growing in your tub. This will use up your Cl (actually it's FC or Free Chlorine). Things growing in your water can also cause bad smells. 2. Your pH is way too high. The acceptable range is 7.2-7.8. I high pH will reduce the effectiveness of your sanitizer (Chlorine), can cause skin/eye irritation, and in the longer run can damage your tub components. 3. I don't know what a "Du 50" is. I've never seen the term "Du" when referring to spa/pool chemistry. Maybe it's just my ignorance? 4. An ozonator can help reduce some chemical use, but it is not a substitute for chlorine which is what kills the things growing in your tub. You seem to only be adding chlorine (Lithium Hypochlorite)once a week on Fridays. I don't think this enough. Depending on various factors, you probably should add chlorine every time you use your tub. Also, the type of chlorine you are adding is the most expensive type. 5. Take dealer advice with a grain of salt. They are trying to sell you stuff. Some dealers don't always provide the best information. It depends on the dealer. If you are having problems and the dealer advice isn't working, I'd not waste time or money with the dealer. I think this forum is a much better source of information than the advice you are getting. So ... I have two recommendations. 1. Decontaminate your tub. This will kill what's most likely growing in it now. Here is a decontamination procedure: DECON PROCEDURE. You might get away with just shocking your spa, but I would be on the safe side and get rid of whatever is growing in it. 2. Switch to the Diclor-then-Bleach method of sanitation. Here's theLINK. Read the entire writeup, but focus on the summary section. It's actually much easier than it first seems. However, to do it, you must get a good test kit as described in the link. Good luck, - Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 You tub is growing algae because you don't have enough chlorine in it. Ozone is a supplementary sanitizer and it actually can increase your chlorine usage because it tends to destroy chlorine and vice versa. Du is NOT a water measurement. Not sure what you mean but it can either be CYA or CH since these ARE water measurement paramters. You have 0 ppm free chlorine and .5 ppm total chlorine. this means you have .5 ppm combined chlorine and this is another indicator that algae is growing in the tub from lack of chlorine. Combined chlorine is the 'bad' chlorine that smells, doesn't sanitize, and should be 0 ppm. TC-FC=CC and CC should always be 0 ppm and FC should be at least 3 ppm AT ALL TIMES! Simon is right on the money with his advice to you. You have algae from lack of chlorine, t the pH being too high and needing to decomtaminate your tub. He is also right on the money about the ozone and the dealer's advice! He advice on using the dichlor/bleach method is sound. Follow it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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