Cloudy water issues

[Wreck150]

Hello.

New member and new(er) spa owner.  We purchased the Jacuzzi J-385 hot tub back about 3 months ago.  We love the tub, its size and features are perfect for our larger family.  We are a family of 7,  (5 kids ranging ages 8-16).  Mainly the tub is used by my wife and I and on occasion a few of the kids join in.  We also own a swimming pool for a few years now so I have a good understanding of chemical balancing and keeping your filtration system running to obtain the desired clean and safe results.

However since purchasing the Jacuzzi tub we've had a difficult time keeping the water clear.  We use the Nature Way products that Jacuzzi recommends.  We decided to go the path of chlorine management like our swimming pool over bromine.  Seems like in our area our local water supply tends to run PH levels a bit high so working to keep PH levels at an acceptable level is a must especially with daily or at the very least a couple times a week usage of an hour on average per use.  To the details of my problem we have had to drain and restart the tub about 4 times since purchasing it no more than 3 months ago which I know is way above normal.  We learned about keeping clean suits, if at all possible washing them with little or no detergents that can harm the tubs resulting in poor chemical levels, foaming and water clarity.  We also try to shower before each use to minimize any chances of perfumes, soaps and other personal hygiene products entering the water. However with all this pre prep work we seem to go about 2 or 3 weeks and end up with cloudy or even at times a greenish colored water.  My chemical levels always stay within an acceptable range for PH, water hardness, and alkalinity.  On a normal fresh fill and start up I usually end up a day or two into the process having to use muriatic acid treatment once or twice to get the PH levels down fast because using PH down products just don't handle things quickly enough and leave it maintainable.  Usually I do one treatment of 1/2 cup of muriatic acid mixed in a clean 5 gallon bucket with about a gallon or two of spa water,  then add it to the spa with the jets running for about 20 mins.  Usually a day later I have to follow up with a smaller 1/4 or less dose to get things stabilized where I can then maintain going forward with PH down or PH up depending on the conditions.  Aside from that I use a little Metal cleaner product by Nature Way as recommended at initial fill up and then a small weekly or bi weekly dose to maintain.  Only other product I use is Sani Chlor product from Natures Way before to establish a good chlorine level and then a follow up after use or the following morning to clean and re establish a good 1-3 ppm chlorine level. 

Now fast forward we just emptied and refilled about 2 weeks ago,  everything stayed clean and clear until about 4 or 5 days ago we noticed the water going from crystal clear to a light cloudiness to now days later to where you can barely even see the bottom of the tub yet my chemical levels are all in acceptable range.  We also haven't used the tub in a few days so our thoughts would be it would have time to " clear up ".  The tub is set to run on the stock settings which is 8 hrs of filtration per day along with the Clear Ray purification system.

Any help or suggestions that could be passed along would be much appreciated.  We really do our best to keep a very clean and chemical balanced tub and this clouding issue has really thrown us for a loop.  I've tried using Nature Way products to counter act the cloudiness caused by oils, etc but it usually ends in draining, wiping down and refilling the tub then the process seems to repeat a couple weeks later.

Thanks!

[Vinny]

I too was a pool owner before spa owner and I will tell you spa water is totally different or it was for me.

I am thinking that you are not using enough chlorine to combat the bacteria in the water.

I do not know what nature's way products are but cloudiness is either from a lot of bacteria or a lot of other debris (lotions and such) in the water. Since you know about the lotions I will only surmise it is the bacteria level. I am not a big fan of non sanitizer methods (Nature 2 stick, enzymes and things like that) - I'm a firm believer to use a santizer to make sure the water is OK. With that said - you are looking for a chlorine reading of at least 3 ppm 20 minutes after adding it. Every so often you need to bring up the santizer levels to about 7 to 10 ppm to super disinfect the tub. Dichlor is the chlorine of choice but people do use a dichlor and bleach method to keep the stabilizer level down to make the chlorine more effective (as stabilizer levels increase chlorine becomes less effective (happens at high levels of stabilizer). If 2 people use the tub you need less chlorine then if 5 people use the tub again shooting for that 3 ppm level.

I do hate to say this but cartridge filters are horrible in keeping water clean - I wish they had DE for spas. once you get enough chlorine in the tub to kill all the bacteria then use a clarifier (just a little bit) to get it all to clump together for the filter to work better. Once the tub is clean then clean the filter(s) to remove that stuff from the filters.

[Sam]

Yep, you are not adding enough sanitizer to the water.  That's the problem with these hot tub manufacturers and sales people.  There is a huge demand for an alternative water treatments system to chlorine or bromine, so these people use that to sell their new treatment system, like Jacuzzi Clear Ray.  Even with this system, you still need to maintain a chlorine residual.  They tell you that 1ppm is enough, though I suspect it is not. 

I would recommend going to bromine.  You can fill a floater with tabs and it will slow release into the water.  With the chlorine system, you are going to need to add it every day or so.  Also, it is my understanding that UV light breaks down chlorine, so theoretically you would need to add even more chlorine with clear ray than without.  I'm only guessing here though.

[Topline Mike]

I use 4 chemicals in our tub. 

No 1 is muriatic acid to bring the ph down.  My well water starts at a TA of 400ppm, so I'm adding about 26 ounces of acid to reach the ph goal of 7.5.

No 2 is stabilizer, which adds cyanuric acid (CYA) to the water.  I use 2 ounces to get the CYA up to 30-40ppm.  I put the granules in a cotton sock and throw in the tub, as these dont dissolve for a day or two.  You can also use dichlor to get the right amount of CYA in your water.

No 3 is boric acid.  Not needed, but it seems to make the water sparkle.  16 ounces of this, get it at dudadiesel.com.

No 4 is chlorox bleach.  Add enough to keep your Free Chlorine levels above zero.  As you become familiar with your tub, you'll get it soon enough. 

That's all I use, and it works great. 

Check out this website, http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html.  Look at the bottom of the page, affects of adding chemicals.  This will tell you, if I add this, then this will be the result. 

Good Luck

[av8r]

I use 4 chemicals in our tub. 

No 1 is muriatic acid to bring the ph down.  My well water starts at a TA of 400ppm, so I'm adding about 26 ounces of acid to reach the ph goal of 7.5.

No 2 is stabilizer, which adds cyanuric acid (CYA) to the water.  I use 2 ounces to get the CYA up to 30-40ppm.  I put the granules in a cotton sock and throw in the tub, as these dont dissolve for a day or two.  You can also use dichlor to get the right amount of CYA in your water.

No 3 is boric acid.  Not needed, but it seems to make the water sparkle.  16 ounces of this, get it at dudadiesel.com.

No 4 is chlorox bleach.  Add enough to keep your Free Chlorine levels above zero.  As you become familiar with your tub, you'll get it soon enough. 

That's all I use, and it works great. 

Check out this website, http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html.  Look at the bottom of the page, affects of adding chemicals.  This will tell you, if I add this, then this will be the result. 

Good Luck

^^ This^^

Simple and effective.