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I don't know why your dealer told you to bypass you water softener. IMO, you should fill your tub from the water softener. The only thing is, it will also remove calcium, therefore requiring you to add some.

If you have hot tub party's, and find your FC dropping too fast, it just means you need to use more Chlorine (WHATEVER that amount is). Don't be afraid to use larger amounts of Bleach (1, 2 or 3 cups) if needed. And, don't be afraid to shock (15-20 ppm) your tub until your Chlorine Demand (CD)...

Chlorine Demand is the single most important measurement you can make, to determine the health of your tub water. Any organic "stuff" (dead or alive) in your tub, Chlorine will kill and oxidize. The more "stuff" in your tub, the more Chlorine is needed. The question becomes, is there a...

Anyone know what a Gram of Chlorine is in terms of FC ppm in a 350 gal tub?

If you think about it, if you tell someone to add enough acid to lower pH to 6.8-7.0, considering aeration, that might turn out to be more than this method. The only reason I'm purposing this method, is so you know exactly how much acid to add each time. I see a lot of users try to lower pH, but...

Richard, Aeration must have an extreme effect on raising pH when it's <= 7.0 and TA is high. Every time I've used this method the pH never dropped below 7.0. I measured pH immediately after adding acid, and every 10 mins, to be sure. As a matter of fact, when TA is above 300, I couldn't get a...

Hi All, I'm doing research on SWCG's for spas. I've been looking at three portable ones, Spa Pilot, ColorChlor and Nexa Spa. The first two have an output rating of ~15 grams chlorine per day. The last one has a rating of ~100 grams per day. All at 3000 ppm salinity. The last one claims it can...

Peter, The main (and important) thing to remember about water balance is, adjust your TA in order to keep your pH in line. If you're going to be using the Dichlor/Bleach (BBB) method, adjust your TA initially to around 60 ppm using the Acid/Aeration method. Check out the link further down...

That will work fine if the jets/air aren't running. However, I found it takes more acid than the acid demand test says to get pH down to 7.0, because of the constant aeration. Yes, that's what I said above. "The first thing to remember is, the amount that TA decreases is directly proportional...

The problem with lowering Total Alkalinity (TA) in general is that when you add acid to lower TA, pH also decreases. This limits the amount you can lower TA without pH becoming too low. However, there is something you can do to raise pH that leaves TA alone, Aeration. Aeration is the process of...

Correct! That's about 4.5 oz Dichlor in 570 Gallons. You can shock to 12 ppm FC. In 570 Gallons that's 1.5 oz or 3 TBS Dichlor to make it easy. Maintain FC around 3-6 ppm, with a min of 1 ppm That will raise your Chlorine Demand (CD) to around 50% from 25%. That means your tub will drop FC in...

No big deal. I just thought if it were easy to get a sample, it will make the process go faster for you. It shoudn't take long anyway. I balanced a friend's tub with well water (TA=430ppm) in just a few hours. Also, you can test it when it's cold, it won't matter. Keep us updated.

If you have H*ll (I mean Well) water, it's good you have the option of hauling water in. If you have a water softener, you can use the water coming from that to top off the tub. Keep in mind it will filter out Iron and Calcium. Like I said in #1, check the pH, TA and CH in that city water asap...

MDM, I have a few suggestions, that might help make your adventure easier. 1. Test the TA, pH and CH of your tap water. Then you'll know ahead of time what you'll need to do to balance your water. If your TA is high (>100 ppm) then you're going to need to get that down first. I recommend...

Re: New Spa on the way. Sounds like a chem nightmare. I posted in the wrong thread. :oops:

Does that mean adding it before the soak? That's what I do if I expect to have a high bather load night.

The only time I use MPS is during high bather loads. It helps the Chlorine oxidize bather waste, so I don't have to add as much bleach during the long soaks. It also helps to shock with it if you get behind on your Chlorine, and have built up Combined Chlorine (CC) present. However, I haven't...

It sounds like Bromine is easy to use. However, I think the problem one of my friends had was he would neglect the tub, and let it run out of bromine. Although, he told me he was using the tub once a week, along with adding Bromine, shocking etc. However, when I first looked at his tub, it was...

I'm not an expert using Bromine. I just know a couple other people that used it. They didn't do a very good job of using it though. I think they thought it was lower maintenance then it really was. Anyway, they both ended up switching to Chlorine. The guys on this board are experts, so they'll...

Hi SpaMedic, I just happen to stumble across this thread. I was just wondering what made you decide to use Bromine to sanitize your tub as opposed to Chlorine.

Richard, I wondered about that decon process of raising FC to 100 ppm using bleach with no CYA present. That would be quite a potent mix. I guess ths better route would be to shock with Dichlor to say 50 ppm, then shock with bleach the rest of the way to 100 ppm. When I did my two decon...

Chem Geek, I was just kidding about having to read your posts. I enjoy reading them. The reason I wrote this guide up was for my benefit as well as others. I find I understand things better if I write them down. Not to mention, 6 months from now I may need a refresher myself. I also find it...

I wish I would have known about the Pool School two months ago. I wouldn't have had to read all of Chem Geeks post in the other forum. :) As far as the other forum. What's up with all that spam? I've been reading that forum for a couple months, and I never saw that much spam before.

Chem Geek, Yeah I read some of your (and others) earlier posts on that site. I just wish I were around back then. :twisted: I find your method to be perfectly logical, and to work well in practice. Anyone that trys to dispute it, is blind IMO. I don't have an Ozonator, but I find the pH drift...

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...