Starting to feel overwhelmed-cloudy water

[diane]

Here starts the post I knew I would have to one day type.  After 2.5 wks of being a spa owner, I fear my beginners luck with water chemisry has run out. Today I had excessive foaming and now the water is CLOUDY!!  My sundance has an ozonator and a mineral cartridge.  I've been adding one tablespoon of sodium-dichlor after each time the tub is used and once weekly I am shocking.  My ph is sometimes high so I've added small amounts of ph down to get it into a good range.  The tub has not seen any wild nights of maximum occupancy but it is used approx. 4 times a week.  Over Labor Day weekend, five children did enjoy themselves in it.  We did not tell them to keep their heads out of the water so all of them including 3 girls had their hair in the tub.  I know this is not a big deal but on top of sundances' floating stereo/jet remote control which worked for us ONCE, I'm a bit frustrated.  What the heck!  A floating remote should be waterproof, wouldn't ya think?  Anyway, so I'm going to have to have that replaced and figure out the cloudy water issue with the help of you spa specialists out there.  I was planning on dumping and refilling after 4 weeks of usage as many of you recommend, but after only 2.5 weeks of enjoyment, it seems soon to consider doing that.  HELP A NEWBIE OUT

[Vinny]

Probably due to the "party" that was in there! When was the last time you used the spa and/or dosed/shocked it?

It's not a big thing. Start the tub, turn on the air and get something to scoop out the foam, a pool's skimmer net woks great. Scoop out as much as you can, then shock the tub with non-chlorine shock, we call it MPS.

What you are doing is getting rid of the excess contaminants (scooping) then oxidizing (shocking) what ever is left over. If after 24 hours you still have cloudiness, use a little clarifier (1/2 the recommended dose) and wait for 12-24 hours then rinse the filters and you should be good to go.  If you haven't used the spa in a while then the cloudiness can be from bacteria. In that case put 3 tablespoons full of dichlor in and watch your chlorine readings.

Since a dump and refill is in your immediate future this is a good way to see if the above works for you and if not you are prepared to do it.

As far as your dichlor/ozonator/mineral cartridge. For dichlor, you might be using too much or too little. I have a 400 gallon spa and I use about 2 teaspoons for 1 person and up to 4 when more people are in the tub. You didn't say how much you're using for shocking but it should be substancially more. Ozone and mineral cartridge - their there to help the dichlor work. When you dump the water you need another cartridge - don't reuse the exsisting one.

Let us know how you made out!

[In Canada eh]

Diane

   No need to panic just yet!

Add one tablespoon of dichlor to your tub, wait 20 minutes then test the water.  If you have somewhere around 3ppm of free chlorine you should be good, just wait for the water to clear up.  If you have less then 3ppm, add another tablespoon of dichlor.  Give it time to work.  In the meantime run your jets on high and scoop out as much foam as you can.  Don't worry the water care gets easier as time goes on.

For what its worth, don't let kids dunk their heads underwater the oils and stuff from their hair is probably what caused the foam

[D.P. Roberts]

Diane

   No need to panic just yet!

Add one tablespoon of dichlor to your tub, wait 20 minutes then test the water.  If you have somewhere around 3ppm of free chlorine you should be good, just wait for the water to clear up.  If you have less then 3ppm, add another tablespoon of dichlor.  

Ditto what everybody else said. It's probably too early in your ownership to know exactly what a "regular" dose of dichlor is. Next time you exit the spa and dose with dichlor, check the reading after leaving the cover off for half an hour or so. If you're not in the 1-3 ppm range, add more, and remember the "total" amount of chlorine you added. Next time you leave the spa, add that amount, & check again after the chlorine is well mixed. After a month or two of that, then you'll have an idea of how much you should be adding on a regular basis.

A clarifier is a good idea to - you need something to grab on to all those particles in the water so your filter can pull them out.  Follow what the others posted above & you should be in good shape.

[Vinny]

After responding to this post, I went outside and continued closing my pool. I haven't opened the spa for apparently days ... it was cloudy too. I could swear I put chlorine in on Fri morning but I guess not ... time is getting away from me!

So this can be contagious!

[Vinny]

After responding to this post, I went outside and continued closing my pool. I haven't opened the spa for apparently days ... it was cloudy too. I could swear I put chlorine in on Fri morning but I guess not ... time is getting away from me!

So this can be contagious!

This is an example of a bacteria cloudy water ... I put in 3 heaping teaspoons - should be over 4 1/2 PPM and 30 minutes later I had 0.5 PPM. I threw in another approx 4.5 PPM and letting the tub do it's thing. Make sure you  monitor your chlorine levels.

[In Canada eh]

After responding to this post, I went outside and continued closing my pool.

NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Say it isn't so...............SUMMER IS NOT OVER

[Vinny]

NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Say it isn't so...............SUMMER IS NOT OVER

I may not be by you even if your in Canada eh . It is here ... the kids are in school and the leaves are dropping off the tree. I love and hate trees.

We've talked about a solar cover but we probably wouldn't use the pool any more than it gets used now. I do make sure it's opened for our Memorial Day (bad flashbacks from when I was a kid) and  I know a woman who kept her HEATED pool open until Halloween the first year she got it. I think she keeps her pool open into October.

Although the days are getting shorter I keep thinking about those nice winter soaks and I have not soaked in a snowfall since I've had my tub; I believe Bonibelle hasn't either.

I think you need to move to Florida .. just came back from there on a vacation - it's as hot as h*ll there - I prefer the cooler weather.

[tony]

After responding to this post, I went outside and continued closing my pool. I haven't opened the spa for apparently days ... it was cloudy too. I could swear I put chlorine in on Fri morning but I guess not ... time is getting away from me!

So this can be contagious!

Funny...my water is cloudy today, also.  Must be aliens.

[Bonibelle]

I'm afraid to look in mine   :-/..Hubby and I were in last night after going in the pool with our pet spiders   . the tub seems to require more attention after the pool to tub thing. But I will still say it is the best therapy..the colder the pool water, the better.

Yeah Vinny...go ahead and make me feel lousy about going to Florida.   I don't like the heat either...and that snowy soak is something that I am still looking forward to. It has to be this year for sure...

[MostlyLurkingGal]

Ut oh......I better go look at my tub...you guys are scaring me!

[D.P. Roberts]

My tub won't even be installed until the end of the month. So no, I don't feel sorry for any of you.

[wmccall]

Nobody has mentioned Chas' law.   In the first month of ownership, its easy to over/under do stuff.  The weather is still warm, dump the water and start over again.

[Bonibelle]

Yep, it worked for me. And by that second fill, you magically become a better water manager!  Speaking of Chas...where is he?

[tony]

Nobody has mentioned Chas' law.   In the first month of ownership, its easy to over/under do stuff.  The weather is still warm, dump the water and start over again.

Diane had mentioned that she planned to drain and fill at four weeks which makes sense.  This thread, however, brings to light that we all deal with cloudy water from time to time and its not just a new owner issue.