Water Care 101

[lovejoyland]

Can anyone recommend a good site where I can learn about water care?

Thanks!
Vanessa

[Tman122]

Can anyone recommend a good site where I can learn about water care?

Thanks!
Vanessa

Right here.

PH and Alkalitity are what keep your water neutral. This makes it less abrasive and/or less staining. There are normal readings and out of normal readings you get when you test your water. You add either acid or baking soda depending on which direction you need to move the readings of your particular water.

Sanitizer is used to kill bacteria. All water has bacteria in it. As we heat it and add body's to it we add more bacteria or things that grow into bacteria. You choose a sanitizer that works best at keeping your water clean.

And put the two together. Sanitizer and water balance. They both effect each others performance and readings.

Easy Peasy

[bud16415]

Tell us what you are doing now, or are thinking of doing, or the make and model of the tub you plan to use? 

Many tubs are set up to make things easier. Some of the higher end tubs have dispensing systems for sanitizers and have things like ozone systems and minerals that claim to allow the use of less chemicals.

I have tried a couple of the apps even on my iPhone that each time you test your tub you enter in the readings and the app tells you what to add. They seemed quite helpful in the beginning.

I have several friends that use a system that doesn’t use sanitizer and relies on enzymes. I personally wouldn’t trust those systems, but on the other hand they have been using them for years and their water always looks great. Places that sell a certain line of products will really push that line and downplay other methods.

I have a tub that has a pretty fancy system of automatic dispensing and I tried using it for close to a year and found out for me it was just easier to go back to the basics and monitor and add what it needs by hand. It also saves quite a bit of money as buying things bulk is cheaper than the manufactured special dispensing cartridges.

I will say at first it is a little overwhelming and you feel like a chemist. It is really pretty simple once you get on to it.   

[lovejoyland]

Thanks for the replies. You both make it sound so easy!

I have had a Marquis Vegas for about 2.5 weeks now. It is my first spa, and I'm feeling very confused. I set it up with an @ease cartridge kit/start up packet. I tested the water and added some alkalinity increaser as advised by my dealer; this brought the Ph into range too (he was right). All that I was told was that I needed to add chlorine granules after bathing to keep the water clear and to test and adjust the water on a monthly basis. I love that the dealer wants to make things easy for me, but does this sound right?

Also, I'm not sure how much chlorine granules to add or where to set our @ease cartridge. Our tub gets daily usage by 2 - 6 people, and the dealer said we would probably want to set it at 2. He's probably right, but I'm more of a follow a recipe kind of person so doing things by feel, or what looks right, feels a little weird for me. I thought this was supposed to be rocket science! 

Vanessa

[mpkelley20]

The @ease does make it easy if you are not using the tub everyday.  When I've used it, I had mine set at 3 and that seem to keep the levels at a good level for my tub.  But every tub will be different based on use.

Adding the chlorine after using it acts as a shock to kill any stuff you brought into the tub.  Usually a tsp or tblsp. is enough for 1 or 2 people.  It doesn't take a lot.  With 6, I would try 1-2 tblsp and then test your water a little while after adding to see what the levels are.  Adjust if it is too high or too low.  It is kind of trial and error as everyone is different with how they use their tubs and what they allow in them (i.e. bathing suits, shower or no shower before).

The one thing to note on the @ease, it does add additional chemicals to your water above just chlorine.  I don't know the specifics but the look and feel of my water drastically changes when I use it.  Using the dichlor method (basically just adding dichlor granuals after each use) seems to keep the water much more basic and very little chemical smell or feel when I do use the tub.  Also, the @ease is notorious for killing PH so you may need to check that more often and add more PH increaser.

The rocket science comes into play when you buy a good test kit like Taylor or TFT.  The people who make the TFT kids are scientists and are quite insane about testing and getting water in line.  They are also insane about minimizing what you put into your pool or tub.  Very basic chemicals are needed. If you wanted to break it down into the basics: bleach (as your chlorine), baking soda (alkalinity and PH increaser), Borax Laundry Booster (PH increaser...does not affect alkalinity).   Most of us spend a little extra on dichlor as it is easier to add than liquid chlorine and has a bit of stabilizer in it to slow down the chlorine breakdown.

Enjoy your tub!