BradS1 Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 I'm thankful to have stumbled across this site. I'm a spa noob and I've already learned a bunch by reading the various threads. Considering doing a spa flush and then Nitro's decontamination but I'd like to totally understand my problem first. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My friend has had a tub for a few years now - hot springs 400gal with ozonator(FreshWater III). I guess we can classify this tub as semi-neglected with water that has been on the high PH side (maybe 8.0+) for what I'm assuming a couple years now. The problem right now is there's white particles floating around and in particular, coming out of the drain pipe where the ozonator bubbles flow from. These vary in size and have a pasta color and turn into mush when rubbed between your fingers. I filled a container with bleach and water and they flakes do not disintegrate so I'm thinking it isn't mold. Stats from the pool store sample: TC - 3.9 FC - 3.4 PH - 8.5 Total ALK - 169 Total Hardness - 215 Since then, I've been adding PH/ALK down and we are in the 7.8-8 range. ALK is ~100 now. I'm adding more PH down every couple of days. I also bought some stain and scale preventer to bring down the hardness. The ozonator tubing was clogged with buildup and I ran vinegar through it to loosen. I have a Taylor 2006 kit arriving tomorrow and plan to really keep things under control for now on. The filters are original and we thought the flakes may be pieces of them that have broken down. Does that sound plausible? They look fine upon inspection. So I guess I'm looking for advice on the best plan of action. What is this stuff first of all? Should I flush the system? I'm going to order new filters today. Now that I'm thinking about this some more...some of the flakes are the same color as the ozonator tubing, is it possbile that the buildup inside that tubing actually broke it down and now the tubing is "leaking" into the tub? Pics below. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradS1 Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 [/url] The next 2 are when this crud has dried out. As you can see, it's very flaky. [/url] [/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooltonic Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hello, I would like to start by addressing Stain & Scale. Stain & Scale preventer isn't going to lower the calcium hardness. Stain & Scale control products help prevent scale formation on the Spa Surfaces, heaters, piping, and equipment- and prevent stains from iron, copper, and manganese. Working on the retail side of a Pool/Spa chemical dealership, I believe these tiny particles are in fact water mold. Although these flakes did not "disintegrate" in bleach, we can't rule biofilm out. I'm assuming the tub has been moved, thus dumped and refilled recently? ******* For mold, generally the pool store would have you follow these steps: 1) Superchlorinate 2) Remove cartridges 3) Flush the piping (Natural Chemistry's Spa Purge and Swirl Away are what we carry) 4) Drain, Rinse, Refill the Spa 5) Chemically Clean the cartridge to prevent contamination ******* Superchlorinate Predissolve 1 1/2 Cups of SpaGuard's Chlorinating Concentrate is what I'd recommend (99% Dichlor) Raise the water line 1/2 to 1 inch ABOVE the normal high level mark Circulate the Spa on high speed for 30 minutes Remove Cartridge(s) Flush the piping per directions of whichever you use per label directions. Drain the spa. Rinse the spa. BioGuard's Off The Wall or Spa Cleaning Mitts are what our store stocks as products designed for this purpose- I'm sure someone else here will have something better to recommend for this step. Refill- but read my comment about water from the hose below first. Chemically clean the cartridges. There are MANY products designed for this. SpaGuard (BioGuard's SPA lineup) has a chemical called Filter Cleaner which we recommend to our customers. Follow the directions of any filter cleaner you use. Insert the cartridges and balance the SPA water according to your brand new Taylor test kit. *********** I'm sure you'll get more specific recommendations, but this is how we would treat Water Mold in a tub here. I know many people get water mold from letting the warm water that comes first from your hose into the Spa/Pool. Allow for your hose to run until cool before filling your Spa. This isn't necessarily caused by something you did, either. Water Mold comes from a variety of things. I hope I've helped you somewhat! Many people here don't like BioGuard's Alex software, but if you wan't ALEX recommendations at any time, send me your levels and I will attach the PDF attachment... somehow. I would like to clarify that I am not endorsing BioGuard/SpaGuard chemicals. You can use whichever products you are comfortable with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradS1 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 My thoughts on the stain & scale were just to soften the water overall. I'm not sure what the CH level is, but I will know tomorrow. I was thinking bleach would destroy any mold which I why I ruled it out, but you think differently huh? The tub has not been moved but I have drained and wiped it down. This was before I knew about system flush/spa purge...etc. The crud seems to be in the piping and maybe the vinegar I injected into the system has helped loosen it which is why it keeps spewing out of the drain. I've been netting it out and rinsing the filters for the past 3 days and I soaked them in a super strong chlorine solution yesterday for about 4 hours. I do know that my chlorine levels dropped to near zero from yesterday to today which is kind of weird but I've only been monitoring it for a few days with less than perfect test strips. One thing I may have neglected to mention is that one of the jet pipes actually burst and the tub sat without water for ~2 days. I don't know if this is long enough for calcium to stick to the pipes? I really just wish there was a foolproof way to identify what these little chips are. Thank you very much for the advice and the detailed cleaning instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradS1 Posted October 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Just wanted to update incase anybody comes across this post in the future. I believe this is nothing but a scale problem after further research. This site describes the issue exactly - http://www.poolsandcues.com/Scale_in_Hot_Tubs.pdf. The circulator pump runs 24/7 and deposits the scale on the tub bottom every day next to the drain. This issue developed due to the high PH over an extended period of time. I've been netting it out and the water each morning and the water looks better everyday. Also, I created my own little net to put over the drain which makes the cleanup a lot easier. Water now: FC - 7 CC - .4 (this is strange, maybe the high FC is bleaching out the results) ALK - 70 CH - ~200 CYA - 33 PH - 7.6 Going to run either leisure time jet clean or spa flush through the system this weekend, install new filters, and the tub should then be in tip-top shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooltonic Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Good update. This would further explain why nothing occurred when soaked in bleach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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