White Powder In My Jacuzzi

[aevodude]

I am having a problem with fine white powder coating all of the surfaces in my older above ground blue fiberglass spa, it is nearly perfect in consistancy under 50 power it appears to be crystalin in nature and has clear grains like ground glass and sparkles some in sun light heat tested around 5 grams (alot) only discolors brown under heat on a piece of tin foil on the stove, since it appreared last year and I cleaned out the spa several times this year I have drained and cleaned the spa twice in a month and it is back agian ? there has never been any glass broken that could be subject to the pump impellor milling it down im thinking there may be a problem with the original heater or ozonator, (I use gas now) if they have some sort of glass or quartz like element anyone have any idea what this stuff could be?

[sharkman009]

I am having a problem with fine white powder coating all of the surfaces in my older above ground blue fiberglass spa, it is nearly perfect in consistancy under 50 power it appears to be crystalin in nature and has clear grains like ground glass and sparkles some in sun light heat tested around 5 grams (alot) only discolors brown under heat on a piece of tin foil on the stove, since it appreared last year and I cleaned out the spa several times this year I have drained and cleaned the spa twice in a month and it is back agian ? there has never been any glass broken that could be subject to the pump impellor milling it down im thinking there may be a problem with the original heater or ozonator, (I use gas now) if they have some sort of glass or quartz like element anyone have any idea what this stuff could be?

From what your describing it sounds like you have a high calcium content in your water. Calcium will precipitate out of hot water faster than cold water. It is not uncommon in areas with hard water to have calcium buildup on the spa surface after heating. Make sure you keep your ph and alkalinity in balance and add a scale inhibitor to the spa weekly. The scale inhibitor will not remove the calcium but will take away its ability to bond to the surface of the spa. It will be normal after initial fillup to have calcium settle out on the bottom. This is a good thing as you can vacuum it out. The last thing you want is the calcium sticking to the sides of the spa. Also make sure you are not using any of the ph buffering chemicals that are out on the market. These are meant to help prevent ph bounce but in high calcium areas this will force all of the calcium out and you will have a mess on your hands.