Common in Australia where we dont have freezing issues. Moves the sound outside.
Continual gunk Indoor Spa Bath
- Thread starter beersuushi
- Start date
I think there is a shepherds crook in the plumbing. Spa baths are often installed by plumbers, and plumbers method of installing pipe is different to what a spa or pool person would do. Whilst it may be as simple as a thick biofilm, I suspect there is a section of water trapped in the pipes.
If it is purely the biofilm, then in Australia if you call around the pool stores you should find a chemical product called C5. This is chlorine dioxide. Chlorine dioxide is very effective at removing biofilms. I would fill the tub, add the C5 to about 3.0 mg/l and run the pump for 4 hours, drain and the biofilm will be substantially reduced. No point running more than 4 hours, or soaking longer, the product is only active for 4 hours.
I can't help but notice the large wooden box with a pvc pipe coming out of it, likely housing the blower I'm guessing. Check there for a critters nest.
So an update….
We had another crack at this, spending an afternoon dosing, removing gunk, re-dosing (without emptying water between doses which we had done on previous attempts).
We got to a point where it seemed “pretty good”, the water had cooled substantially so we changed water to keep going…and like magic the gunk was back in full force….
Worth mentioning when we started originally trying to troubleshoot this we had noted we get a green tinge to the water colour, but only when there is a large volume of water, when we say fill a standard measuring jug it appears clear. This is with both hot/cold.
We had chatted with our water supplier and some plumbers and no one seemed to think this is an issue just likely a higher mineral/copper count, but given the gunk reappeared after a water change we went back to wondering if this is a water source issue.
So today I bought a 52L tub, filled it most of the way, confirmed we see the green tinge colouring (so it’s not some colour effect from the bath itself).
We then added a bit of Spe Giene, used a stick mixer to agitate the water and like magic start seeing gunk/discolouring which I pictured here.
So being uneducated here, based on googling I’m guessing we might have corroded copper pipe(s) somewhere causing this? (We chatted with our neighbours as we are in a Block of 4 and they don’t see the issue in their bath, so guessing it’s our local piping rather than a mains issue).
Would you expect ahh-some or other products to react this way if the water source has this issue?
Would love to hear some thoughts before I call a plumber
We had another crack at this, spending an afternoon dosing, removing gunk, re-dosing (without emptying water between doses which we had done on previous attempts).
We got to a point where it seemed “pretty good”, the water had cooled substantially so we changed water to keep going…and like magic the gunk was back in full force….
Worth mentioning when we started originally trying to troubleshoot this we had noted we get a green tinge to the water colour, but only when there is a large volume of water, when we say fill a standard measuring jug it appears clear. This is with both hot/cold.
We had chatted with our water supplier and some plumbers and no one seemed to think this is an issue just likely a higher mineral/copper count, but given the gunk reappeared after a water change we went back to wondering if this is a water source issue.
So today I bought a 52L tub, filled it most of the way, confirmed we see the green tinge colouring (so it’s not some colour effect from the bath itself).
We then added a bit of Spe Giene, used a stick mixer to agitate the water and like magic start seeing gunk/discolouring which I pictured here.
So being uneducated here, based on googling I’m guessing we might have corroded copper pipe(s) somewhere causing this? (We chatted with our neighbours as we are in a Block of 4 and they don’t see the issue in their bath, so guessing it’s our local piping rather than a mains issue).
Would you expect ahh-some or other products to react this way if the water source has this issue?
Would love to hear some thoughts before I call a plumber
Attachments
- May 23, 2015
- 24,425
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Sounds to me like you have some plumbing issues that are unrelated to the jetted tub. If you suspect there might be corroded pipes causing this, then you should get a plumber to check out your home plumbing. If the home had any renovation work done it, someone may have inadvertently mixed galvanized pipe with copper/brass pipes which is a huge no-no but happens a lot with renovations, especially when it may have been a DIY job.
Just so I fully understand, you added the SpaGeine to the water in the 52 litre contanier, stirred it around and the EXACT same color and texture "GUNK" resulted? Is this correct? If that is the case I feel that the problem could be plumbing material. Do this for me. Fill that same container again and add the SpaGeine but take the water from an outside faucet or a kitchen sink. Notice if any different results. Did you ever get the purge product from Lo Chlor ( Australia) or the Hot Spring dealer in New Zealand? I would also go to a neighbor, fill a smaller container and add a little SpaGeine to that. See if it still reacts the same. Frustrating, I know. There is an answer and we will try to assist.