High Chlorine, cloudy Spa

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outdoor

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Jul 29, 2013
146
Hello,

My spa has been clean and clear for some time. I use just straight bleach after each use. I'm not sure if the kids used it and did not add bleach afterwords, but all of a sudden it went cloudy.

So i shocked it. I think i added too much chlorine. When i do the quick chlorine test, it is orange. So i've left it for a couple days, tested, still orange.

The issue is it also still a bit cloudy.

Not sure why. I would have thought the cloudiness would go away, and i just need to allow the chlorine to drop a bit.

Any ideas?
 
Use your TF100 and give us a complete set of test results. That will help --

Take care.
 
How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

Am sure you already know alot of it but the above thread is a good refresher.

If it was not cloudy before with a CH of 0 (you should get about 100 ppm CH in the water) then it most likely is sanitation.

Unless you can get a FAS-DPD test it will be difficult to be sure you are at shock level of 12 ppm FC. Your CYA is 30 (round up).

When was the last time you drained? Used Ahh-some or other cleaner?

Hope that helps. Others are more familiar with Spa issues so they will jump in.

Take care,
 
Having a CH of zero is really not possible unless you're filling your spa with softened water from an RO filter. If it were truly that low, you'd likely see a lot of foaming in your spa. My guess is your test chemicals are probably expired and you're getting erroneous results. Not much can be done until you get replacements. For a spa to be clean and healthy, it's important to know BOTH FC AND CC independently. OTO can not do that so the total chlorine number is not very helpful. Please post back when you have good test results. It's highly likely you have a sanitation issue in your spa and it would be advisable to stay out of it until you can confirm what's going on.
 
OK so i tested everyting again

CH was 0. Not sure how since when i filled it up end of Oct, i added enough to bring to 100. I do have softened water, otherwise it would be like over 300
FC was 3 CC 4
Ph High 8.2 or higher??
TA 100
CYA about 25/30

Does not seem cloudy anymore though :)
So i added more chlorine to bring it to 15ppm since seems there is still something eating it up
I added Calcium
Added acid to bring TA to maybe 80/85 see if that brings pH down


Oh when ever i empty and Refill, i use awesome tub cleaner. Last time End of Oct there was not much yucky stuff
 
outdoor said:
OK so i tested everyting again

CH was 0. Not sure how since when i filled it up end of Oct, i added enough to bring to 100. I do have softened water, otherwise it would be like over 300
FC was 3 CC 4
Ph High 8.2 or higher??
TA 100
CYA about 25/30

Does not seem cloudy anymore though :)
So i added more chlorine to bring it to 15ppm since seems there is still something eating it up
I added Calcium
Added acid to bring TA to maybe 80/85 see if that brings pH down
Click to expand...

If something "ate calcium" you'd be a millionaire as it would be the most sought after pool product ever [EDIT]ooops, I read that wrong, you're talking about chlorine not calcium [END-EDIT]....I suspect your CH reagents are bad. Even a standard ion exchange resin water softener will leave a measurable amount of calcium hardness in the water. Getting to zero is not possible without an RO system and even then one would use a calcite tank to add CH back to the water to prevent corrosion of water pipes. So something is definitely off with your CH testing.

CC's at 4ppm is really bad. You need to shock the tub and see if they come down. If they don't, then you have persistent organic CC's which are best treated by simply draining and refilling the tub.
 
my CH always comes up 0 from water softner using the TF100 test, even when new reagents.

sorry the CC would only be 1ppm, My TC was 4ppm, CC was 1 typed that wrong.

8 drops for TC, 2 for CC
 
outdoor said:
my CH always comes up 0 from water softner using the TF100 test, even when new reagents.

sorry the CC would only be 1ppm, My TC was 4ppm, CC was 1 typed that wrong.

8 drops for TC, 2 for CC
Click to expand...

Ok, got it. Well, at this point the CH is really not an issue aside from adding some at some point to keep foaming away. Sounds like you have CH Increaser on hand so you can add that any time.

If you are getting high levels of FC demand and your CCs remain at 1ppm or above, I would suspect you might have an issue with biofilms in your tub's plumbing. Do you use Ahh-some to purge your tub? Purging should be done as an annual routine and anytime a tub sits "empty" for long periods of time. Biofilms, if bad enough, can lead to cloudy water as they are a reservoir for bacterial colonies.

- - - Updated - - -

One update - add the CH increaser only when your pH and TA are lowered to avoid scaling.
 
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