Spa Start up procedure...

[BNMac]

After fighting with pale green, yet clear water for the last couple of weeks, we emptied and cleaned the tub today... We had one or two bouts of cloudy water a month or so ago after enjoying clear water for a few weeks.  After using SpaKleer,  the cloudy water cleared, but we could never get rid of the green hue.
I used TSP to scrub it down and ran it when it was 2/3 full to flush the lines.  The instructions say not to power it up until the filter chamber is at least half full.    Then drain, rinse, rinse, drain, rinse, etc.

Next, after filling it, I powered it up, it ran through the powerup cycles, including the recirc pump & ozone.  It looks good, other than we still have a faint green hue to the water...  must be our spring well water.  It looks much much better than the old did, however.

At the moment, it's way past bedtime. 

The only chemical I added tonite was metal gone.  I understand the chemicals work better when the water is at least 80° so I'll wait until tomorrow after the water temp comes up from it's current 60°.

Tomorrow, I'll install the new filter (currently using the cleaned original) test the numbers, then add the bromine reserve and bring up the calcium hardness as I know it'll be about 100 where it should be about 250.
Then add the bromine floater and wait... then adjust PH/alk...

What is your process for bringing up a new spa?

Why did the spa shop recommend I soak the filter for 8-24 hours in TSP before installing it?

Thanks in advance!
--BNMac...

[BNMac]

A few pics:

Cleaned, ready for new water:


New water already has a faint green tint - I've come to the conclusion that it was a mistake to purchase a spa of this color... something that has a a pale blue or green tint would be much better suited for this application:


And the tint is not due to the sky either - welcome to June-u-ary in NorthWet Oregon:


I custom built a set of steps; it sure is nice!

[soak-king]

I'm not a chemistry expert but a pale green tint in your water sounds like you have metals in your fill water. Have you had it tested for metals?

[BNMac]

Not yet... 

That's my thought too, tho when we first filled the tub in early spring, I don't recall it being this color.  Let's see what the metal gone does for the color over the next couple of days.

--B.

[hottubdan]

Do you have ozone?

[BNMac]

Yes - and a recirc pump.

My wife reported the starting numbers to me:
Cal.    100
Brom  1 to 2
PH       7.5
Alka     80

I had her add the Calcium hardness increaser, it should now be about 250.  The alk is a a little low so a touch of spa up will fix that.

[BNMac]

Hot, balanced and ready to climb into!   You can see the ozone working too - the surface is anything but glassy.



Soak on!
--B

[wmccall]

Nice steps.  Did you build those?  Adding a non slip top might be a good idea.

[BNMac]

Yep!  So far it seems we don't need the non-skid but that certainly is a good idea!
And I built the main set of stairs as well. 
Check out http://www.pbase.com/brucemac/2009_march_stairproject for pics of the progress...

Here's one of the steps before the tub was installed:


--B.

[BNMac]

A few days have passed since the water change - the color is changing!



It's so nice to get into clean, clear BLUE water!!

B^)