AAS Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I used to use EcoOne and Rainforest Blue but I had lots of problems with my water. I dropped the Rainforest Blue and switched to EcoOne and Dichlor only. My water looks great - HOWEVER - my filter looks worn out and gross. When I started these two products I drained , cleaned and refilled spa and bought a brandnew filter. Six weeks later my filter is dingy brown/yellow on the outside with sections of the filter clupmed together and all kinds of goo and gross stuff stuck in the sections. I don't understand - my water finally looks good but my new filter looks YEARS old??? Is it from the products or what is going on? Please Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 I used to use EcoOne and Rainforest Blue but I had lots of problems with my water. I dropped the Rainforest Blue and switched to EcoOne and Dichlor only. My water looks great - HOWEVER - my filter looks worn out and gross. When I started these two products I drained , cleaned and refilled spa and bought a brandnew filter. Six weeks later my filter is dingy brown/yellow on the outside with sections of the filter clupmed together and all kinds of goo and gross stuff stuck in the sections. I don't understand - my water finally looks good but my new filter looks YEARS old??? Is it from the products or what is going on? Please Help! Try replaceing or cleaning it now that your water is balanced and looks good and see if it gets gunky again. If so I think your E1 may be gunking it up with the stuff it's eating in the tub. Beats me, I don't use E1, just dichlor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 AAS - Have you read the Eco-One instructions? The build up on your filters is good! That means its working and it is a by product of the enzymes digesting the oils/fats/perspiration and such. You will need to wash this off periodicallly by rinsing with a garden hose. I use the Eco-One system as a water conditioner to help keep the spa clean and foam free. The Eco-One replaced my need to use a clarifier and a scale preventer and cuts my usage of MPS in shocking. It seems to keep my PH & TA levels stable and my need to maintain chlorine levels are no longer part of my regular maintenance. I add a small amount of copper ions (maintain a reading of 0.4ppm of copper) as a algaecide and bacteriacide and use a small dosage of Dichlor (1 tsp.) after each use to sanitize the water. About the only time I have ever had a problem with my water was when I first began using the Eco-One and had no prior experience with it. I thought that it was basically all I needed along with a little Dichlor after use of the spa. What I found was that my water would begin to cloud up due to the beginning cycle of an algae bloom caused by me being away from the spa for a week and the water having no sanitizer residual. After super chlorinating then adding the copper ions to my water as an algaecide, these problems seemed to have gone away. My water now never seems to be cloudy, or odorous from being in need of a shock treatment and measuring and adjusting PH & TA has been reduced to once per month. My goal is to keep this water in the spa for a year before needing to change it and further reduce my time involved with maintenance. http://www.pacificsandsinc.com/spacare.html#4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 You might want to also consider putting a good cover on your spa Andy. Besides all the insulating advantages of a cover, it will also keep out all the sunlight when closed. Without the light, algae can't grow, nor "bloom". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 You might want to also consider putting a good cover on your spa Andy. Besides all the insulating advantages of a cover, it will also keep out all the sunlight when closed. Without the light, algae can't grow, nor "bloom". Doc....I know you better than this but it sure seemed you were trying to sell yourself a cover. Only at first glance. Andy selling a cover to Andy....hehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 You might want to also consider putting a good cover on your spa Andy. Besides all the insulating advantages of a cover, it will also keep out all the sunlight when closed. Without the light, algae can't grow, nor "bloom". Thanks for your input. When the spa is viewed at night with its light on and the cover closed, no appreciable light is seen anywhere so I suspect the cover fit is good. Until that one particular water switch I had never experienced an algae problem in the past nor have I since. I was pretty much stumped at the time on how the algae had a chance to grow at all. It seems that the even after running the Eco-One pre-cleaner throught the spa for the ten day period and flushing and refilling, when added to the new fill the enzymes in the Eco-One monthly treatment continued to clean the spa of contaminates from inside the pipes and equipment. During the first couple of weeks after using the enzymes, the spa definetely acquired an organic smell and the water was cloudy. This is what I referred to as an early algae bloom. Superchlorination removed the odor and cleared the water for a period but it returned and I needed to retreat the water. From my experience with the product, either the enzymes finally finished purging out whatever was the source of the cloudy/odorous water from deep within the spa or the ions I added helped as an algaecide to prevent new growth. From what I have later learned from speaking with the technical specialist at Pacific Sands is that this is normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Doc....I know you better than this but it sure seemed you were trying to sell yourself a cover. Only at first glance. Andy selling a cover to Andy....hehehehe Actually Rog, I was taking a sarcastic aproch. I assumed there WAS a cover on the spa and was trying to get across that without sunlight, a lot of sunlight, there wont be, and it almost certainly wasn't , algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AAS Posted January 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 I thought you could use EcoOne and dichlor alone - you ndid not need to add any copper! I use to use rainforest blue and my water turned greenish and cloudy. Since I stopped using it I don't have a problem with my water. My water looks and smells clean - it just my new filter looks sooo old only after 6 weeks of use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Actually Rog, I was taking a sarcastic aproch. I assumed there WAS a cover on the spa and was trying to get across that without sunlight, a lot of sunlight, there wont be, and it almost certainly wasn't , algae The blue-green algae may very well have been cyanobacteria, a photosynthetic organism that has a resemblance to green algae. Whatever it was, its gone now! The superchlorination killed it for sure and the use of the copper ions being a bacteriacide as well as a algaecide hopefully will help prevent its return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubasteve Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 What a strange problem you're having. I get twice the life out of my filters using Eco One and Dichlor. They are rarely dirty when i take them out and we use our spa heavily. You do not need Rainforest Blue with Eco One. It's your choice what sanitizer you decide to use. Depending on the water properties where you live, these copper type products can sometimes attach to calcium and leave you with green tinted water. These treatments contain a suspension agent/emulsifier that keeps them from dropping out of solution, but excessively high calcium can break the product from this agent. This results in a less effective treatment and green tinted water. Algae causes "cloudy" green water, not "tinted" green water. Products like Rainforest Blue and Pristine Blue are great products, but they are not for everybody. Copper can be found in your tap water as well. This form of copper is natural and has no suspension agent/emulsifier keeping it in solution. A pretreatment with a hose filter or sequestering agent will be needed each time you add water to the pool/spa to prevent broblems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brulan1 Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 What a strange problem you're having. I get twice the life out of my filters using Eco One and Dichlor. They are rarely dirty when i take them out and we use our spa heavily. You do not need Rainforest Blue with Eco One. It's your choice what sanitizer you decide to use. Depending on the water properties where you live, these copper type products can sometimes attach to calcium and leave you with green tinted water. These treatments contain a suspension agent/emulsifier that keeps them from dropping out of solution, but excessively high calcium can break the product from this agent. This results in a less effective treatment and green tinted water. Algae causes "cloudy" green water, not "tinted" green water. Products like Rainforest Blue and Pristine Blue are great products, but they are not for everybody. Copper can be found in your tap water as well. This form of copper is natural and has no suspension agent/emulsifier keeping it in solution. A pretreatment with a hose filter or sequestering agent will be needed each time you add water to the pool/spa to prevent broblems. Like spa metal x and sparkalizer plus. Mineral and scale prevention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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