To use softened water or to not use softened water.

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Wineguy5942

Member
Feb 7, 2022
16
California
Going to do an ahh some purge tomorrow for the first time and then a 100% refill. I haven't done a 100% refill since I set the spa up in December and have never done a purge. Its an inflatable spa and ive noticed brown film on the connector behind the filter so i figured it needed a purge. Anyway, I have two options for refilling, soft water or hose water.

Soft water:
100ppm TA
0ppm CA

Hose water:
100ppm TA
40ppm CA

If I use the softened water I can use hot water through the hose bib in the house to refill. This would be preferable, but my CA is super low if I do this.

Would it be better to use softened, warm water to refill and then add calcium chloride or use hose water. Also what would be a good range to set the TA and CA to?

Right now I have a problem with high pH and I have had to use so much dry acid to bring it down that my TA is now at 55ppm..

Just wondering which water source I should use and what chemistry I should shoot for.
 
What test kit are you using?

How do you measure TA at 55 ppm when each drop is 10 ppm in the test kits we use?

50-60 ppm TA is ok. Higher TA will cause your pH to rise more rapidly.

A difference in 40 ppm of calcium is immaterial. They are both equally good spa water.
 
ajw22 said:
What test kit are you using?

How do you measure TA at 55 ppm when each drop is 10 ppm in the test kits we use?

50-60 ppm TA is ok. Higher TA will cause your pH to rise more rapidly.

A difference in 40 ppm of calcium is immaterial. They are both equally good spa water.
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I'm using the Taylor test kit. I estimated 55 because there is a partial color change at 5 drops where the green turns grey/brown and then at 6 drops its a complete color change.

My pH is usually 7.9-8.0 right when I take off the cover and sometimes goes up upon aeration and sometimes doesn't. Over the last couple months my TA has gone down as I fight to bring the pH down. It seems the dry acid will bring the pH down, but it will creep back up within a week. Could it be the high pH of the bleach I'm using?
 
Wineguy5942 said:
I'm using the Taylor test kit. I estimated 55 because there is a partial color change at 5 drops where the green turns grey/brown and then at 6 drops its a complete color change.
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Then your TA is 60. The endpoint is a complete color change.

Wineguy5942 said:
My pH is usually 7.9-8.0 right when I take off the cover and sometimes goes up upon aeration and sometimes doesn't. Over the last couple months my TA has gone down as I fight to bring the pH down. It seems the dry acid will bring the pH down, but it will creep back up within a week. Could it be the high pH of the bleach I'm using?
Click to expand...

Everything sounds normal. That is what pH will do.

PH - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

PH TA Relationship - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Managing pH and Total Alkalinity - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
I am curious, why do you have a water softener if your tap water is 40 ppm CH which is like 3 gpg. No need for one.
 
mknauss said:
I am curious, why do you have a water softener if your tap water is 40 ppm CH which is like 3 gpg. No need for one.
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We were told that is why we have scale on everything, so we bought one. This is one of my wife's shampoo bottles that has been in our shower for 3 months. We have it on the hot water side only. It is WAY better than when we didn't have one, but we still get this scale on everything. The houses we both grew up in never had this problem.
 

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How did you test the 40 ppm CH?
Check your water provider website for a Water Quality report. In many areas of California, your water is hard, and 40 ppm CH is not hard.
 
mknauss said:
How did you test the 40 ppm CH?
Check your water provider website for a Water Quality report. In many areas of California, your water is hard, and 40 ppm CH is not hard.
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I took cold tap water out of the kitchen sink and used the Taylor test kit. We installed the water softener on the hot water side only, so the hot water tests as 0. It's possible that our water supply fluctuates chemistry, as sometimes there are noticeable chloramines in the tap water that you can smell from several feet away.
 
I just retested to be sure. Cold tap water from my kitchen sink is the following:
pH: 8.0+ *strong dark purple possibly off the scale of the Taylor K-2005 pH test.
TA: 100ppm
CH: 40ppm

I tested the hot water after running for one minute to clear the lines. Our hot water is water softened. The hot water is the following:
pH: 7.8
TA: 100ppm
CH: 0ppm
 
Check your water provider website for a Water Quality report. In many areas of California, your water is hard, and 40 ppm CH is not hard.
 

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