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Everyone has told me that ECO ONE and dichlor is the best - but I keep getting a scum line. Just this weekend I completely emptied, cleaned, refilled with water and brand new filter. I put in the Eco One and by morning I had light brown floaties and a scum line with the broen particles. I have taken the filter out 3 x and cleaned it but the stuff is still in the water. Any Ideas on what it is and how to get rid of it?

Thanks

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Everyone has told me that ECO ONE and dichlor is the best - but I keep getting a scum line. Just this weekend I completely emptied, cleaned, refilled with water and brand new filter. I put in the Eco One and by morning I had light brown floaties and a scum line with the broen particles. I have taken the filter out 3 x and cleaned it but the stuff is still in the water. Any Ideas on what it is and how to get rid of it

Have you been using any type of "stain/scale" preventive/treatment? It helps rid the water of Iron/rust/etc .. just a suggestion. - I add it once per week and rinse or clean my filters often. Good luck!

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Everyone has told me that ECO ONE and dichlor is the best - but I keep getting a scum line. Just this weekend I completely emptied, cleaned, refilled with water and brand new filter. I put in the Eco One and by morning I had light brown floaties and a scum line with the broen particles. I have taken the filter out 3 x and cleaned it but the stuff is still in the water. Any Ideas on what it is and how to get rid of it?

Thanks

call the 800 number at pacific sands, its on the back of the instructions. they are very helpful. good luck

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Everyone has told me that ECO ONE and dichlor is the best - but I keep getting a scum line. Just this weekend I completely emptied, cleaned, refilled with water and brand new filter. I put in the Eco One and by morning I had light brown floaties and a scum line with the broen particles. I have taken the filter out 3 x and cleaned it but the stuff is still in the water. Any Ideas on what it is and how to get rid of it?

Thanks

Eco one contains enzymes and flocculants. the enzymes will break down organics in the water and the "floc" will make them clump so they can be filtered out. IF your water has that much orgainic stuff in it and you are using dichlor you need to test (with a drop based DPD test kit---strips just aren't accurate enough for what you need to know) your Free chlorine and combined chlorine leves and make sure your FC is at least 3 ppm and that there is NO combined chlorine. If there is( and I would bet that there is) you need to shock (bring the FC up to about 15 ppm, easiest way is with liquid chlorine or laundry bleach---same thing except for the concentration), Unfortunately, this will destroy the enzymes in the Eco One and you will need to reapply it. Actually if you keep on top of your water balance , test properly , and keep your sanitizer levels at the proper range the need for a product like Eco One sort of goes away! :rolleyes:

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Eco one contains enzymes and flocculants. the enzymes will break down organics in the water and the "floc" will make them clump so they can be filtered out. IF your water has that much orgainic stuff in it and you are using dichlor you need to test (with a drop based DPD test kit---strips just aren't accurate enough for what you need to know) your Free chlorine and combined chlorine leves and make sure your FC is at least 3 ppm and that there is NO combined chlorine. If there is( and I would bet that there is) you need to shock (bring the FC up to about 15 ppm, easiest way is with liquid chlorine or laundry bleach---same thing except for the concentration), Unfortunately, this will destroy the enzymes in the Eco One and you will need to reapply it. Actually if you keep on top of your water balance , test properly , and keep your sanitizer levels at the proper range the need for a product like Eco One sort of goes away! :rolleyes:

Actually, according to industry standards and advice from chemical companies, to "shock" or superchlorinate, you want to bring you FC to 10 PPM and the best way to do that is with dichlor granules. bleach and liquid chlorine are mostly water and fillers.

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Actually, according to industry standards and advice from chemical companies, to "shock" or superchlorinate, you want to bring you FC to 10 PPM and the best way to do that is with dichlor granules. bleach and liquid chlorine are mostly water and fillers.

you want to bring the level of hypochlorus acid in the water up to at LEAST 10 ppm, it really depends on the level of CYA in the water. if you have been using exclusively dichlor for your sanitizer you might have fairly high CYA levels in your water requiring much higher concentrations of both free cholorine for normal sanitizing and also for shocking. At recommended levels of 30-50 ppm CYA for an outdoor chlorine sanitized spa you should run you FC at about 5 or 6 ppm and shock at at least 15 ppm. How you put the hypochlorus acid in the water doesn't really matter. It can be dichlor, cal hypo, lithium hypochlorite, or sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine, laundry bleach---same thing excpet for the concentration and therefore how much you need to add), or chlorine gas injected in the water or manufactured in the cell of a Salt Water Chlorine Generator. Both of the last two methods actually create sodium hypoclorite in the water so are basically identical to adding either liquid chlorine or bleach! If you would care to get into any more of the acutual chemisty involved I would be glad to explain it.

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you want to bring the level of hypochlorus acid in the water up to at LEAST 10 ppm, it really depends on the level of CYA in the water. if you have been using exclusively dichlor for your sanitizer you might have fairly high CYA levels in your water requiring much higher concentrations of both free cholorine for normal sanitizing and also for shocking. At recommended levels of 30-50 ppm CYA for an outdoor chlorine sanitized spa you should run you FC at about 5 or 6 ppm and shock at at least 15 ppm. How you put the hypochlorus acid in the water doesn't really matter. It can be dichlor, cal hypo, lithium hypochlorite, or sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine, laundry bleach---same thing excpet for the concentration and therefore how much you need to add), or chlorine gas injected in the water or manufactured in the cell of a Salt Water Chlorine Generator. Both of the last two methods actually create sodium hypoclorite in the water so are basically identical to adding either liquid chlorine or bleach! If you would care to get into any more of the acutual chemisty involved I would be glad to explain it.

However, in a typical outdoor spa you are draining befroe the CYA level gets up to 30 to 50 ppm.

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However, in a typical outdoor spa you are draining befroe the CYA level gets up to 30 to 50 ppm.

if chlorine is your primary sanitizer and the spa is exposed to UV from the sun (When I had my 10'x10' spa I used to leave the hard cover off for a week or two at a time becuase it was a two person job to put it on or off! I KNOW I am not the only one who does this!) then you need to maintain a level of CYA in your spa to keep the residual chlorine from being destroyed. Probably more important in a spa than in a pool becuase of the higher temp! Otherwise you will end up with 0 FC in the water and can get algael and even worse problems! Dichlor as a primary sanitizer will continue to add CYA to the water but it is usually easier to get the CYA levels correct after a fill and then add unstaiblized Chlorine (liquid is easiest and cheapest) to bring up your FC to the proper level and to shock. I kept my first spa (10'x10' portable 480 gal) on chlorine for 2 years before switching to bromine (If I had unserstood the chemisty better then I would have kept it on chlorine! Less smell and easier to keep balalnced!) and my currnet spa (built in acrylic shell next to my pool) is on a SWG along with my pool. Maintenance is minimal!

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if chlorine is your primary sanitizer and the spa is exposed to UV from the sun (When I had my 10'x10' spa I used to leave the hard cover off for a week or two at a time becuase it was a two person job to put it on or off! I KNOW I am not the only one who does this!) then you need to maintain a level of CYA in your spa to keep the residual chlorine from being destroyed. Probably more important in a spa than in a pool becuase of the higher temp! Otherwise you will end up with 0 FC in the water and can get algael and even worse problems! Dichlor as a primary sanitizer will continue to add CYA to the water but it is usually easier to get the CYA levels correct after a fill and then add unstaiblized Chlorine (liquid is easiest and cheapest) to bring up your FC to the proper level and to shock. I kept my first spa (10'x10' portable 480 gal) on chlorine for 2 years before switching to bromine (If I had unserstood the chemisty better then I would have kept it on chlorine! Less smell and easier to keep balalnced!) and my currnet spa (built in acrylic shell next to my pool) is on a SWG along with my pool. Maintenance is minimal!

For built in spa, I am sure you are and were doing the right thing. However, most portable spas are smaller than yours and are kept covered, no UV. They are drained before TDS build up and CYA build up. You get algae from lack of sanitation AND sunlight. Again, a covered spa getting no UV will not get algae. with no sanitation, you will get bacteria growth and unhelthy water.

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For built in spa, I am sure you are and were doing the right thing. However, most portable spas are smaller than yours and are kept covered, no UV. They are drained before TDS build up and CYA build up. You get algae from lack of sanitation AND sunlight. Again, a covered spa getting no UV will not get algae. with no sanitation, you will get bacteria growth and unhelthy water.

My 10'x10' spa was a portable 480 gal spa and was on chlorine first two years (1999-2000) and then bromine until I replaced it with my current IG fiberglass pool and 300 gal acrylic spa last year. I get year round use since I live in Florida. My comment about the 10x10 hard cover was that since it was a two person job to take tit off or put it on it tended to stay off the spa for weeks at a time! I just keep a solar blanket on my current spa and it is very easy to put on and remove. Since I stated in the post that you quoted that my previous spa WAS a portable you might want to go back and re read it a bit more carefully. Then you might understand what I was saying. As far as a covered spa not getting algae I have seen mustard algae grow in a spa that was covered for almost a month.. TDS is not much of an issue if the spa is drained and refilled regularly but CYA levels ARE if chlorine is the primary sanitizer. It is important to get the CYA levels up to about 30 ppm on each fresh refill. My feeling on the subject is to balalnce the water, put in the right amount of CYA, and then use non stabilized chlorine for sanitation and shock. This way you KNOW what your numbers are until it's time to refill again and your regular maintenacne boils down to montering the chlorine and pH and checking water balalnce and CYA monthly---assuming a 3-4 month refill period.

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My 10'x10' spa was a portable 480 gal spa and was on chlorine first two years (1999-2000) and then bromine until I replaced it with my current IG fiberglass pool and 300 gal acrylic spa last year. I get year round use since I live in Florida. My comment about the 10x10 hard cover was that since it was a two person job to take tit off or put it on it tended to stay off the spa for weeks at a time! I just keep a solar blanket on my current spa and it is very easy to put on and remove. Since I stated in the post that you quoted that my previous spa WAS a portable you might want to go back and re read it a bit more carefully. Then you might understand what I was saying. As far as a covered spa not getting algae I have seen mustard algae grow in a spa that was covered for almost a month.. TDS is not much of an issue if the spa is drained and refilled regularly but CYA levels ARE if chlorine is the primary sanitizer. It is important to get the CYA levels up to about 30 ppm on each fresh refill. My feeling on the subject is to balalnce the water, put in the right amount of CYA, and then use non stabilized chlorine for sanitation and shock. This way you KNOW what your numbers are until it's time to refill again and your regular maintenacne boils down to montering the chlorine and pH and checking water balalnce and CYA monthly---assuming a 3-4 month refill period.

Any type of algae has to have light in order for it to grow. Pink water mold and mildew will grow in a dark environment but in 20 years I have never seen any type of algae in a self contained spa.

In our customers spas I have never had CYA be a problem before the TDS gets to a point that the spa needs to be drained.

In a self contained spa there is no need to add CYA.

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Any type of algae has to have light in order for it to grow. Pink water mold and mildew will grow in a dark environment but in 20 years I have never seen any type of algae in a self contained spa.

In a self contained spa there is no need to add CYA.

I take it you have never seen a self contained spa in S FL during the summer with the cover left off for a week or two at a time :) IF the spa is using chlorine as the primary sanitizer it will all be burned off in a very short time by the UV in the sun. Even if dichlor is the primary source of chlorine, the level of CYA in the water will not be high enough to keep a FC residual for any length of time right after a new fill. Adding CYA to the proper level will help maintain the FC level.

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I take it you have never seen a self contained spa in S FL during the summer with the cover left off for a week or two at a time :) IF the spa is using chlorine as the primary sanitizer it will all be burned off in a very short time by the UV in the sun. Even if dichlor is the primary source of chlorine, the level of CYA in the water will not be high enough to keep a FC residual for any length of time right after a new fill. Adding CYA to the proper level will help maintain the FC level.

If a customer leaves the cover off their self contained spa in the sun they are asking for bigger problems. That is one thing no manufacturer will warranty is an acrylic shell that cracks or blisters from being exposed to direct sunlight for extended periods of time. Let me rephrase what I said. If a customer takes care of their self contained spa properly then CYA is not going to be neccesary. Now if your talking about an inground thats a different story. :)

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If a customer leaves the cover off their self contained spa in the sun they are asking for bigger problems. That is one thing no manufacturer will warranty is an acrylic shell that cracks or blisters from being exposed to direct sunlight for extended periods of time. Let me rephrase what I said. If a customer takes care of their self contained spa properly then CYA is not going to be neccesary. Now if your talking about an inground thats a different story. :)

why would the water care of a self contained acrylic spa and an ingound acrylic spa be any different? :blink:

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You missed my point. If you take care of a self contained spa properly it will be covered when you are not using it. The spa being covered makes a huge difference in water care.

In a perfect world. You obvioulsly never lived iwth a 10x10 foot spa! putting the CYA in the water with each refill and then sanitizing with unstabiized chlorine is MUCH easier than wresling with a 10x10 hard cover :rolleyes: It was my spa dealer who got me on this track. He suggested it and it worked. He said bromine would be another alternative that would work. I then went to bromine and it did work but I had more problems with pH and alkalinity than with chlorine.

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In a perfect world. You obvioulsly never lived iwth a 10x10 foot spa! putting the CYA in the water with each refill and then sanitizing with unstabiized chlorine is MUCH easier than wresling with a 10x10 hard cover :rolleyes: It was my spa dealer who got me on this track. He suggested it and it worked. He said bromine would be another alternative that would work. I then went to bromine and it did work but I had more problems with pH and alkalinity than with chlorine.

There arent to many 10' square spas out there. I see plenty of large inground spas and I'll say it again the care that I would recommend for them would be different. In fact I wouldnt even bother having a cover made for anything over 9' because I know from experience it wont get used after the customer handles it a few times.

And I have never seen a 10' self contained spa.

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There arent to many 10' square spas out there. I see plenty of large inground spas and I'll say it again the care that I would recommend for them would be different. In fact I wouldnt even bother having a cover made for anything over 9' because I know from experience it wont get used after the customer handles it a few times.

And I have never seen a 10' self contained spa.

I got the spa from a dealer in Ft Lauderdale, Fl It was his house brand (all he carried) and it had 2 recliners, l lounge seat (semi recline) and bench seating for 6 with 2 neck jets on the recliners and lounge, rotating back jets, shoulder jets, some type of ocillating jets, foot jets, etc. . It was acually not the bigges one he had. there was on that was a bit bigger but it was not as comfortable when I wet tested it. The cartride for the filter was almost as big as the one in my current pool/spa setup (pentair clean and clear 150) being maybe about a foot shorter but it was wider. It was a lot of fun.

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I got the spa from a dealer in Ft Lauderdale, Fl It was his house brand (all he carried) and it had 2 recliners, l lounge seat (semi recline) and bench seating for 6 with 2 neck jets on the recliners and lounge, rotating back jets, shoulder jets, some type of ocillating jets, foot jets, etc. . It was acually not the bigges one he had. there was on that was a bit bigger but it was not as comfortable when I wet tested it. The cartride for the filter was almost as big as the one in my current pool/spa setup (pentair clean and clear 150) being maybe about a foot shorter but it was wider. It was a lot of fun.

Do you know what the brand is or is it built by one of the fiberglass pool manufacturers?

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My 10'x10' spa was a portable 480 gal spa and was on chlorine first two years (1999-2000) and then bromine until I replaced it with my current IG fiberglass pool and 300 gal acrylic spa last year. I get year round use since I live in Florida. My comment about the 10x10 hard cover was that since it was a two person job to take tit off or put it on it tended to stay off the spa for weeks at a time! I just keep a solar blanket on my current spa and it is very easy to put on and remove. Since I stated in the post that you quoted that my previous spa WAS a portable you might want to go back and re read it a bit more carefully. Then you might understand what I was saying. As far as a covered spa not getting algae I have seen mustard algae grow in a spa that was covered for almost a month.. TDS is not much of an issue if the spa is drained and refilled regularly but CYA levels ARE if chlorine is the primary sanitizer. It is important to get the CYA levels up to about 30 ppm on each fresh refill. My feeling on the subject is to balalnce the water, put in the right amount of CYA, and then use non stabilized chlorine for sanitation and shock. This way you KNOW what your numbers are until it's time to refill again and your regular maintenacne boils down to montering the chlorine and pH and checking water balalnce and CYA monthly---assuming a 3-4 month refill period.

First of all my spa is covered - but most importantly this was a new fill with brandnew water. So how could my ;evels of anything be too high? The on;y thing that was put into the water was Eco One at this point on the first 24 hrs of filling the spa. Any other ideas on what it could be?

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Do you know what the brand is or is it built by one of the fiberglass pool manufacturers?

all I know was it was "direct from manufaturer and had his brand and he put the jets in to measurenent (we sat in the different parts of it and he marked where the jets would go. He had about 9 or 10 different models, both round and square (some rectangular) and some bathtub spas for installation instead of a bathtub.He also gave options as to the filtration and purification systems and sold ionizers, ozone, biguinide, bromine, and chlorine. His recommendation was chlorine or possibly bromine when I purchased mine and told me start with chlorine and if there were problems it would be easier to switch to bromine instead of the reverse. From what I NOW know about water chemistry I realize he gave me very sound advice!

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First of all my spa is covered - but most importantly this was a new fill with brandnew water. So how could my ;evels of anything be too high? The on;y thing that was put into the water was Eco One at this point on the first 24 hrs of filling the spa. Any other ideas on what it could be?

Like I stated before Eco One is an enzyme and floc product. Your fillwater might be new but that does not mean that your spa is clean. There might be deposits in the plumbing (body oils, mold, etc.) that the enzymes are removing and that are then clumping together because of the flocculant action. Most of the enzyme based spa products out there tell you in their literature that when you start using them you might find your water is "dirter" before it gets cleaner or that the recommend a "purge" procedure to clean out the spa plumbing, cover, etc. (Eco One recommends this, as does Natural Chemstry's Spa Perfect and Spa Purge) so what you are seening is pretty normal with enzyme products. Enzymes do not elimiate the need for proper water balancing and sanitation. They are supplimental products that are used IN ADDITION to your normal sanitizing and balancing regieme. The Eco One website even states that the procduct must be used with an EPA appoved sanitizer which means chlorine or bromine. (realize that copper based prducts like Clearwater Blue, etc. are EPA approved as algacides/bateriacides--not the same thing) and that some enzyme products are not compatible with biguinide sanitation regiemes. Hope this helps.

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