Fingerstank 5 Posted March 4 Report Share Posted March 4 Hi everyone. Was gone for about 2 weeks and left the kids in charge of the Tub. Before I left the water was perfectly balanced. Came home last night and went and got my water tested at two different places today. Alkalinity dropped to under 18ppm at one test sight and 70 p.p.m. at another. Was originally at 130 before I left Ph seems relatively in line with each other 6.4 and 6.7 respective of each other. Was at around 7.6 when I left. The concerning thing is they both tell me the Stabilizer levels are above 150 ppm but under 165 ppm. 1) How did my Stabilizer levels raise so high? It was well within range prior to leaving.. Should I just over shock it to raise the Chlorine high enough to break the lock which I am assuming is what's going on or drain a fair amount of water and refill. The water itself is under 2 months old that's what" confusing me with thigh Stabilizer levels. Thanks in Advance Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RDspaguy 742 Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 Get a good test kit. The fact that they weren't the same says one at least was wrong. I would just dump it and start from fresh. It's only a month early. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ratchett 69 Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 14 hours ago, Fingerstank said: Was gone for about 2 weeks and left the kids in charge of the Tub. 14 hours ago, Fingerstank said: The water itself is under 2 months old that's what" confusing me with thigh Stabilizer levels. Do you use Dichlor pellets for sanitizing the spa? That would be the culprit - excessive Dichlor use can do it. I'm betting your kids likely used more chlorine than necessary As far as I know, drain/refill is the easiest way to handle high stabilizer numbers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
castletonia 189 Posted March 5 Report Share Posted March 5 15 hours ago, Fingerstank said: Hi everyone. Was gone for about 2 weeks and left the kids in charge of the Tub. Before I left the water was perfectly balanced. Came home last night and went and got my water tested at two different places today. Alkalinity dropped to under 18ppm at one test sight and 70 p.p.m. at another. Was originally at 130 before I left Ph seems relatively in line with each other 6.4 and 6.7 respective of each other. Was at around 7.6 when I left. The concerning thing is they both tell me the Stabilizer levels are above 150 ppm but under 165 ppm. 1) How did my Stabilizer levels raise so high? It was well within range prior to leaving.. Should I just over shock it to raise the Chlorine high enough to break the lock which I am assuming is what's going on or drain a fair amount of water and refill. The water itself is under 2 months old that's what" confusing me with thigh Stabilizer levels. Thanks in Advance Does one of the places you had your water tested at use the ALEX software from BioGuard? If so, and if they had the 18 ppm for alkalinity, that is the adjusted total alkalinity. Adjusted total alkalinity is your alkalinity - 1/3 the cyanuric acid level. Adding a bunch of dichlor would cause the cya to rise significantly. No explanation for bottoming out the pH and alkalinity though. As RDspaguy said, just dump and start fresh, not worth fighting water that is closer to a drain/refill than new. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fingerstank 5 Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 Thanks everyone for their input. Took the advice and just purged and drained the tub. Back up and running. Just working on getting the PH and Alkalinity in line. Been using @waterbear suggested way. Gotta say it actually works quite easy and spot on . Thanks all 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
waterbear 147 Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 On 3/5/2021 at 7:44 AM, castletonia said: No explanation for bottoming out the pH and alkalinity though Sure there is, Dichlor is net acidic (acidic pH when added and acidic reaction when it is consumed) so you are, in effect, adding acid which will lower both TA and pH. However for that big a drop in 2 weeks time makes me thing that pH down was also being added to the water. AS far as the high CYA, dichlor will add 9 ppm CYA for every 10 ppm chlorine added and, unlike chlorine which is consumed, cya isn't and the level continues to rise as diclor is added. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fingerstank 5 Posted March 12 Author Report Share Posted March 12 On 3/11/2021 at 1:55 AM, waterbear said: Sure there is, Dichlor is net acidic (acidic pH when added and acidic reaction when it is consumed) so you are, in effect, adding acid which will lower both TA and pH. However for that big a drop in 2 weeks time makes me thing that pH down was also being added to the water. AS far as the high CYA, dichlor will add 9 ppm CYA for every 10 ppm chlorine added and, unlike chlorine which is consumed, cya isn't and the level continues to rise as diclor is added. I think you might be on to something.. Possibly put PH Down in as a shock then realized it and then added Dichlor. But then again who knows. Not one of them wants to admit any possible wrong doing . Fear of the wrath of Dad lol. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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