Help a BBB newbie with some questions

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Garet Jax said:
CYA will stay the same unless I add it. So now that I have CYA where I want it, I should switch to bleach and stop using Dichlor.
CH will stay the same unless I try to adjust it.
pH may rise or lower and I need to measure it daily to keep it around 7.6.
FC will fluctuate the most and should be between 2 on the low side and 5 or 6 on the high side unless I am shocking. I will need to test and adjust possibly daily.
CC should remain at .5ppm or lower. If it goes higher it means the chlorine is actively killing off bacteria and I may need to shock it.
TA I know very little about this number long term - any advice?
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  • The CYA in a hot spa slowly drops over time at a rate of around 5 ppm per month so you should use Dichlor for about one day per month to make up for this.[/*:m:222qvemu]
  • CH shouldn't change.[/*:m:222qvemu]
  • The pH will usually not drop when you are using bleach. It will either remain the same or rise. Keeping the TA lower at around 50 ppm and using 50 ppm Borates helps slow down the rate of pH rise.[/*:m:222qvemu]
  • For the FC, if you get into a regular pattern of spa usage, you may find your FC to be fairly consistent when measured right before your soak.[/*:m:222qvemu]
  • For CC, I'd give yourself a little more tolerance unless you notice a smell. Some of the CC may be chlorourea that doesn't smell the way chloramines do so if you measure a low CC but it's stable before each soak, then that's OK. If it's rising over time or if you notice a bad chloramine smell before your soak (i.e. when FC is present), then that's a problem where shocking would be required, but if the spa is well managed this should not happen.[/*:m:222qvemu]
  • Your TA is on the high side for a spa that will be using bleach (after Dichlor). 50 ppm would have the pH be more stable and you also don't show that you have 50 ppm Borates so you should add boric acid if you haven't done that already (add it after you get the TA lower first). The TA will generally be fairly stable when using bleach (when using Dichlor, it drops slowly).[/*:m:222qvemu]

You didn't say whether the spa has an ozonator. Does it?
 
No ozonator.

Thanks for the advice. I haven't used Borates yet - still learning and wanted to get the rest of the chems and the numbers before introducing Borates.

A little surprised to hear that my TA is high. I followed the sticky at the top of the forum for numbers and it recommended the settings that I have. In fact my TA this morning was 70ppm and I added some chems to increase it to 80ppm since that was my target.
 
Garet Jax said:
A little surprised to hear that my TA is high. I followed the sticky at the top of the forum for numbers and it recommended the settings that I have. In fact my TA this morning was 70ppm and I added some chems to increase it to 80ppm since that was my target.
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That sticky needs to be changed. If you find your pH fairly stable, then 80 ppm is OK, but for most spas it's not low enough because most spas have aeration jets that aerate the water. If your pH seems fairly stable when using bleach with a TA near 80 ppm, then fine, but if it is rising too quickly then you can lower it. I most certainly wouldn't raise it, but see how things go with your pH.
 
GuinnessPhish said:
even if using bromine, you still add chlorine after every soak to oxidize bather waste? How much chlorine?
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You can use whatever oxidizer you want when using bromine. You can use bleach, Dichlor, or non-chlorine shock (MPS), but bleach is the least expensive by far. The purpose of the chlorine isn't just to oxidize some of the bather waste, but it also creates more bromine from the bromide bank (i.e. it oxidizes bromide to bromine). The bromine that comes from bromine tabs is fine for a background level of bromine, but it usually isn't enough to handle bather waste if you use the spa a lot.

If you add the chlorine after your soak, it will be gone within an hour and you'll only have bromine in the spa most of the time including for your next soak. The test kits don't distinguish between chlorine and bromine and from a disinfection point of view it doesn't matter.
 
chem geek said:
[quote="Garet Jax":36i0mzus]
A little surprised to hear that my TA is high. I followed the sticky at the top of the forum for numbers and it recommended the settings that I have. In fact my TA this morning was 70ppm and I added some chems to increase it to 80ppm since that was my target.
Click to expand...
That sticky needs to be changed. If you find your pH fairly stable, then 80 ppm is OK, but for most spas it's not low enough because most spas have aeration jets that aerate the water. If your pH seems fairly stable when using bleach with a TA near 80 ppm, then fine, but if it is rising too quickly then you can lower it. I most certainly wouldn't raise it, but see how things go with your pH.[/quote:36i0mzus]

Not sure how much pH rise is acceptable, but I am definitely getting pH rising. It seems the only way to reduce TA is to reduce pH to low 7s and let it rise by itself. Over time this seems like it will lower TA. Is that true or is there a better way to lower TA?

What should my target number be for TA - 50ppm?

Thanks a lot.
 
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