I bought a used 2005 Tiger River Bengal spa about 3 months ago. Once I got it installed, I filled it and started off using the chemicals that the previous owners were using -- Chlorine with regular spa shock. From almost the first day, while the water was very clear, I noticed some floating particles that were green or white. It didn't bother me so much, especially since I could only see them when I used the spa during the day (rarely) but as time went on the floaters seemed to increase as did the other solids such as hair and dirt. I decided to do a empty and re-fill so I could rid myself of these messes but also to switch from Chlorine to Bromine (which after extensive research on this forum decided would be the best choice for me given that it is no unusual for me to be out of town for 5 days with nobody else using it/maintaining it). I decided to go with waterbear's 3 step bromine method and bought a new Taylor test kit, floater, bromine tablets and sodium bromide to start things off.
I drained the tub over the weekend, soaked the filter (which was new 2 months ago when I first filled) in filter cleaning solution overnight and then rinsed it off. I did a scrub of the inside using baking soda and water, rinsed the tub, cleared a pile of dirty/hairy/sandy sludge from the bottom of the tub and started to re-fill. I noticed about halfway through the fill that the water was a bit cloudy with a white film (almost soap suds like) on the top of the tub -- which once the tub was full enough and I turned on the jets immediately turned into foam. A bit of de-foamer took care of it, but the water is still a bit cloudy.
Still, I proceeded -- balanced the water (TA always has been a little bit low but PH in range) and then added 2 oz of Sodium Bromide followed by 3/4 cup of bleach. I ran the jets about 30 minutes, closed the top and went to bed.
This morning when I got up, I measured the levels. PH was very low, and there is no evidence of any Bromine (reserve or otherwise). I have not yet put the floater into the tub, but given that I have an ozonator running and added so much sodium bromide and the bleach I was surprised not to see it register at all. In addition, the water is still a little bit "soapy" (for lack of a better term).. I was hoping that the bleach would have cleared that out.
So -- where to go from here? Any help greatly appreciated.
I drained the tub over the weekend, soaked the filter (which was new 2 months ago when I first filled) in filter cleaning solution overnight and then rinsed it off. I did a scrub of the inside using baking soda and water, rinsed the tub, cleared a pile of dirty/hairy/sandy sludge from the bottom of the tub and started to re-fill. I noticed about halfway through the fill that the water was a bit cloudy with a white film (almost soap suds like) on the top of the tub -- which once the tub was full enough and I turned on the jets immediately turned into foam. A bit of de-foamer took care of it, but the water is still a bit cloudy.
Still, I proceeded -- balanced the water (TA always has been a little bit low but PH in range) and then added 2 oz of Sodium Bromide followed by 3/4 cup of bleach. I ran the jets about 30 minutes, closed the top and went to bed.
This morning when I got up, I measured the levels. PH was very low, and there is no evidence of any Bromine (reserve or otherwise). I have not yet put the floater into the tub, but given that I have an ozonator running and added so much sodium bromide and the bleach I was surprised not to see it register at all. In addition, the water is still a little bit "soapy" (for lack of a better term).. I was hoping that the bleach would have cleared that out.
So -- where to go from here? Any help greatly appreciated.