Jump to content

Using Spa Purge before draining, noticed foamy water on fill


MDouglass

Recommended Posts

Hi all...Im new to this forum. I have had a hot tub for about 3 years now. It's a master spa approx 500 gallon tub.  I typically drain the tub twice a year Jan and May, we really don't use it in the summer months so I end up filling the tub in late September / early October.

Anyway when Im ready to change the water I use a product called Spa Purge by Natural Chemistry to clean the lines, jets etc. It gets real foamy and after about 12 hours to 24 hours, I throw in a submersible sump pump to drain the tub. I follow the directions on the bottle. As an extra step...After all the water was emptied I decided to switch on the tub and run the jets to expel any water left in the lines.  After cleaning the tub walls with Simple Green and then rinsing the walls again with the hose and sucking out, I was ready to fill it up again.

I should note, that I used a filter cartridge solution for my filters and made sure to give them a real good rinse before installing them back.

So here's my issue - When refilling the tub, I encountered an air-lock situation (probably from turning the jets on without water and bypassing the filter area when filling), only one of my jets would turn on, but I could hear the motor on the others and i usually can get the air bubble out of the lines by cycling on the pump or by use of a dedicated plunger in the filter housing to force the air out. When I finally got the air out, some cloudy water was pushed out from one of the jets. The tub was already full by the time i got the air lock resolved. Now when the jets are turned on- there is some foam that dissipates when the jets are turned off. Which leads me to think the foam is from one of two issues.  I either have some remaining cartridge solution from the filters that didn't get rinsed off or some remnants of the Spa Purge is in the water from the jets. If it is either of these two theories, is the water safe to use? or would I have to drain and refill again? The water is clear and I have started to work on adjusting the alkalinity of the water... is it possible the Leisure Time spa up would cause the slightly foamy water when the jets are turned on. Just trying to avoid having to drain and refill again.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have experimented with purge products a lot over the years and natural chemistry irritates me because it thinks it is the nations premiere distributor of foam.   If you seach google for "boisediesel spa purge" you should see all of my write ups. NC works a little but its foam production is just too epic.  They've added a bunch of surfactants just to make it appear like its doing something good when in fact it does very little.

Im not sure i csn help with the air lock per se but i can affirm that without a complete drain to remove the NC it will give you grief.  Since NC itself is basically a rather weak enzyme type of tonic ( along with the surfactants)  i doubt that small amounts of it (evidenced by foam) are problematic.  Just a nuisance.  If you can't control it with readonable amounts of anti foam you could partial drain.  Some spas have an "equipment drain" that might be effective even with a short  (10 percent) drain

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn, I wish I knew about the Ahh-Some product before the pool company convinced me to use Spa Purge. Im going to attempt to add anti-foam tonight and if that doesn't do it then I am definitely draining and starting over. Whats another 500 gallons in a month on the water bill 😑 Thanks for reply!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Your theories are correct.  Either you didn’t get all of the Spa Purge out or you didn’t rinse all of the filter cleaner out of the filters.  As long as your sanitizer level is where it should be the hot tub is fine to use.  Just use defoamer and rinse the filters the next day.  Might need to repeat this process once or twice but should be able to get all the foam out.

I sell Natural Chemistry products and while I think Spa Purge works fine, my issue is that being a more natural product it does require that 24 period before draining.  Most of my customers don’t care for that.  I’ve used Ahhsome and Hot Tub Serum and think they work fine but never noticed the extraordinary results some claim.  Currently offering my customers System Flush by SpaGuard and so far, so good.

YMMV but I think as long as you are using a product from a reputable company you should be good either way.  I wouldn’t shy away from Spa Purge unless you just want to try something different or something that works quicker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...