cloudy water help

[lovejoyland]

Hi Everyone,

I need some help. I went away for a week, and when I came back I found the water was clear, but the @ease cartridge was upside down. Since it had been a week I shocked the tub, but I neglected to change the @ease cartridge (bad me!). Things were busy after I got back so I didn't use the tub, but the teens kept going in. The next time I checked the water (yesterday) it was very cloudy even when the jets were off. I replaced the @ease cartridge and set it to 2, and I added 4 capfuls of chlorine granules to the water. This did not resolve the problem so later that day I tested the water and added some alkalinity increaser. The water was still very cloudy today so I added 4 more capfuls of chlorine granules. The water is still cloudy but looking a bit clearer near the top. What do I do? Add more chlorine granules? Shock the water again? I don't know what to do. Please let me know.

Thanks!
Vanessa

[Tman122]

Hi Everyone,

I need some help. I went away for a week, and when I came back I found the water was clear, but the @ease cartridge was upside down. Since it had been a week I shocked the tub, but I neglected to change the @ease cartridge (bad me!). Things were busy after I got back so I didn't use the tub, but the teens kept going in. The next time I checked the water (yesterday) it was very cloudy even when the jets were off. I replaced the @ease cartridge and set it to 2, and I added 4 capfuls of chlorine granules to the water. This did not resolve the problem so later that day I tested the water and added some alkalinity increaser. The water was still very cloudy today so I added 4 more capfuls of chlorine granules. The water is still cloudy but looking a bit clearer near the top. What do I do? Add more chlorine granules? Shock the water again? I don't know what to do. Please let me know.

Thanks!
Vanessa

Shock it with chlorine granules. Get the chlorine PPM up to 15-20 and let it run for a cycle or two.

[The Wizard of Spas]

The absolute key with @ease is pH and alkalinity balance.  Its first, second, and third in importance.

The ball may have flipped over but your total chlorine runs at 10-15ppm, so if your pH and alk are balanced, the tub will draw from your total chlorine.

Next time make sure your pH and alk are balanced.  Additionally- The water temp of 94 degrees are warmer helps with the chemistry:  I cannot remember exactly why but when I talked to the chemists at King Technology they let that slip. 

[bud16415]

This thread goes hand in hand with your other one on water care 101.

I think everyone goes thru this same learning curve. I know I did. I also wonder if your dealer is giving you good information or maybe you are missing some of what they are telling you. Your @ease cartridge should last a month and if you have an inline feeder that holds the cartridge there should be no way it is upside down. @ease is chlorine so it should be set to take care of the sanitizing and I don’t know why he has you adding more after each use. There are two ways to shock your tub one is how Tman instructed with taking the chlorine level real high and I wouldn’t suggest getting back in it until it came back down on its own. The other way is with an oxidizer called MPS or non-chlorine shock. If you are using that in a small quantity after each use and then staying out of the tub for a while that is one method. That’s not chlorine though that is MPS oxidizer shock. The other thing the dealer might have you using after use is Dichlor and that is a chlorine to use in a hot tub. That would be just doing more of what the @ease is doing and it would still be a good idea to shock with MPS once every week or two depending on usage.

The key word I saw in your post was “teens” if you want to keep your tub trouble free everyone that uses it should know what is going on and if you go away for a week chances are the kids were using it more and maintaining it less. We always try and shower before using the tub and remove lotions and body products in the shower rather than in the tub. You can get away with much more in a pool as there is so much more water and the water is cool. Kid don’t pay attention to stuff like that and anything that gets in the water needs to be treated out and then removed thru the filters.

Early on I problems like yours quite often and some I treated out and some I just dumped the water and started over. Last weekend our tub got cloudy similar to yours and I didn’t treat it as I was already past when I had planned to change the water. One thing I have found when you press the water life to long the water gets more finicky.

You will get it just hang in there.     

[lovejoyland]

Shock it with chlorine granules. Get the chlorine PPM up to 15-20 and let it run for a cycle or two.

Is that the same thing as shock oxidizer?

[Tman122]

Shock it with chlorine granules. Get the chlorine PPM up to 15-20 and let it run for a cycle or two.

Is that the same thing as shock oxidizer?

No, as mentioned above shock oxidizer is shock oxidizer or MPS (monopersulphate). Chlorine granules is dichlorotetra blah blah, made specifically for hot tubs.

[lovejoyland]

This thread goes hand in hand with your other one on water care 101.

I think everyone goes thru this same learning curve. I know I did. I also wonder if your dealer is giving you good information or maybe you are missing some of what they are telling you. Your @ease cartridge should last a month and if you have an inline feeder that holds the cartridge there should be no way it is upside down. @ease is chlorine so it should be set to take care of the sanitizing and I don’t know why he has you adding more after each use. There are two ways to shock your tub one is how Tman instructed with taking the chlorine level real high and I wouldn’t suggest getting back in it until it came back down on its own. The other way is with an oxidizer called MPS or non-chlorine shock. If you are using that in a small quantity after each use and then staying out of the tub for a while that is one method. That’s not chlorine though that is MPS oxidizer shock. The other thing the dealer might have you using after use is Dichlor and that is a chlorine to use in a hot tub. That would be just doing more of what the @ease is doing and it would still be a good idea to shock with MPS once every week or two depending on usage.

The key word I saw in your post was “teens” if you want to keep your tub trouble free everyone that uses it should know what is going on and if you go away for a week chances are the kids were using it more and maintaining it less. We always try and shower before using the tub and remove lotions and body products in the shower rather than in the tub. You can get away with much more in a pool as there is so much more water and the water is cool. Kid don’t pay attention to stuff like that and anything that gets in the water needs to be treated out and then removed thru the filters.

Early on I problems like yours quite often and some I treated out and some I just dumped the water and started over. Last weekend our tub got cloudy similar to yours and I didn’t treat it as I was already past when I had planned to change the water. One thing I have found when you press the water life to long the water gets more finicky.

You will get it just hang in there.   

You're right! I posted it again for specific help with this issue.

You're also right about teens! Our tub gets 1 - 2 uses daily by 2 - 6 people. The dealer definitely said to throw in some chlorine granules after everyone was done to deal with the heavy bather load. I was wondering if this was too much since we do use the free floating @ease cartridge system. What do you think?

[lovejoyland]

No, as mentioned above shock oxidizer is shock oxidizer or MPS (monopersulphate). Chlorine granules is dichlorotetra blah blah, made specifically for hot tubs.

Yes, I read that after I posted. How do I know when I get to 15 ppm? My test strips only go up to 10 ppm.

[bud16415]

If you are going to go to the trouble to add extra dichlor (chlorine) after each usage to cover what the @ease floater isn’t getting, I would just forget about the @ease and dose it once a day like I do based on usage. In my tub if the two of us go in the tub for between 30 minutes to an hour and we have showered before I will generally add one tablespoon of dichlor as soon as we get out and turn on the clean cycle leaving the tub open until the clean is done. About 10 minutes then close the tub up. The dichlor will do its job and be almost gone for the next days soak. If we have company and use the tub harder I will give it some extra. The first few months I tested quite a bit to get a feel for how much to add. The goal for me is to have it down around 1-2 PPM when I get in and maybe 5 PPM after we get out. I use dichlor for the first couple weeks with new water as dichlor has stabilizer in it and it will make the CYA build up. In a pool sunlight destroys stabilizer in a hot tub it doesn’t see much sunlight and will get the CYA level too high. Once mine hits about 50 I switch over to Clorox bleach. The same stuff you buy at the grocery store. I figured out a little cup I had for laundry detergent gave me about the same chlorine level as my tablespoon of dichlor without the ramping up of CYA and Clorox is by far the cheapest thing to buy. Doing it this way a $15 jar of dichlor lasts me a year. You have to use caution with liquid bleach just the same as you do in the laundry.

I would save my @ease in the floater for when everyone goes on vacation. Set it on 4-6, turn the heat down and go away for a couple weeks without worries. If the kids are home teach them what they need to do if they want to use the tub.     

[Tman122]

No, as mentioned above shock oxidizer is shock oxidizer or MPS (monopersulphate). Chlorine granules is dichlorotetra blah blah, made specifically for hot tubs.

Yes, I read that after I posted. How do I know when I get to 15 ppm? My test strips only go up to 10 ppm.

Get and learn how to use a re-agent test kit.

[lovejoyland]

If you are going to go to the trouble to add extra dichlor (chlorine) after each usage to cover what the @ease floater isn’t getting, I would just forget about the @ease and dose it once a day like I do based on usage. In my tub if the two of us go in the tub for between 30 minutes to an hour and we have showered before I will generally add one tablespoon of dichlor as soon as we get out and turn on the clean cycle leaving the tub open until the clean is done. About 10 minutes then close the tub up. The dichlor will do its job and be almost gone for the next days soak. If we have company and use the tub harder I will give it some extra. The first few months I tested quite a bit to get a feel for how much to add. The goal for me is to have it down around 1-2 PPM when I get in and maybe 5 PPM after we get out. I use dichlor for the first couple weeks with new water as dichlor has stabilizer in it and it will make the CYA build up. In a pool sunlight destroys stabilizer in a hot tub it doesn’t see much sunlight and will get the CYA level too high. Once mine hits about 50 I switch over to Clorox bleach. The same stuff you buy at the grocery store. I figured out a little cup I had for laundry detergent gave me about the same chlorine level as my tablespoon of dichlor without the ramping up of CYA and Clorox is by far the cheapest thing to buy. Doing it this way a $15 jar of dichlor lasts me a year. You have to use caution with liquid bleach just the same as you do in the laundry.

I would save my @ease in the floater for when everyone goes on vacation. Set it on 4-6, turn the heat down and go away for a couple weeks without worries. If the kids are home teach them what they need to do if they want to use the tub.   

What is CYA and why do I need to worry about it?

[Tman122]

What is CYA and why do I need to worry about it?

Cyunaric acid. It is a stabilizer for granular chlorine. As it builds up in your water from using granular chlorine it reduces the effectiveness of the granular chlorine.

[lovejoyland]

Cyunaric acid. It is a stabilizer for granular chlorine. As it builds up in your water from using granular chlorine it reduces the effectiveness of the granular chlorine.

Thanks for letting me know!

[bud16415]

 A little more on CYA. It is my understanding it is quite important in open outdoor swimming pools as sunlight breaks it down and the job of CYA is to combine with chlorine and slow the chlorine down. So, in the case of a swimming pool constantly adding it along with the chlorine is a good thing as you don’t want the chlorine acting too fast and needing to be constantly re added. In hot tubs the water temp being higher even speeds the process of the chlorine even more so some is needed to slow the chlorine. I gather it helps with swimming suits being eaten up by the chlorine even. The trouble is without sunlight it keeps building up. Something like 10-30 PPM I think is where it works best and I find using dichlor I get there in a couple weeks. When I first started using dichlor it was very easy to maintain my tub but as time went on and CYA built up it slowed the chlorine too much, I would have to add more and then the CYA goes up even more. Dichlor alone is a vicious cycle with CYA always winning. It was then I read that Clorox did the same thing without the CYA. It is cheap and readily available and this was a tried and true method. So, I switched over and it worked great for me. Another great method of getting chlorine without CYA is using a salt system where you generate your own chlorine out of salt in the water. There are aftermarket units that do that as well and I have a friend that added one and it is a very nice way to go as it is a very slow addition of chlorine over longer periods of time. The other nice thing about it is it works when you go away for a few weeks like your floater does.

For now I settled on daily or every other day dosing the tub to suit checking it with test strips a couple times a week and keeping my @ease for when I have to go away. That and being careful about bringing a lot of things into the tub like body lotions and soapy swimsuits, I think if I wanted to I could easily use the tub daily and get 6 months out of the water. I don’t push it that long as water is cheap and I try and stick on a 4 times a year plan. I don’t like draining and cleaning the tub in the winter months so I try and do it late fall and if in the late winter it needs some help I drain it down about 1/3 and refill it. That’s simple to do and quick and easily extends the water a month or two.   

I am not an expert at this or a chemist so my explanation of the benefits and also the down side of CYA is limited to what I know and if I’m wrong about any of it any of you pros feel free to correct the record.     

[The Wizard of Spas]

If you're dosing every day or with any regularity, you're defeating the purpose of @ease.  I am not saying you can't do what you're doing. But the point of @ease is to keep your FC at under 1ppm and allow for your TC to be pulled from, and not having to fidget all the time.

The DMDCH (@ease chlorine) is a different type of Di-Chlor.  @ease is all about pH balance (7.4-7. and keeping your water temp at above 94F. 

I have found that sometimes you need to up your setting to one notch above what the gallonage calls for, but that is only for continuous heavy bather loads.

CYA levels are nearly as prominent in @ease than with a traditional Di-Chlor or other chlorine types.

Again- Not saying what you guys do is wrong.  Just saying the whole point of @ease is that its not only a unique Di-Chlor, its whole point is to maintain a chlorine level at about .5ppm.  With a reservoir of 10-15ppm TC, once you nudge your pH back in line it'll correct itself usually.  Be patient.

If you're going to dose daily or every other day, you should just nix the @ease and save the expense.  @ease is way more forgiving when done right.  But what is "right"?  I got frustrated with it b/c their marketing didn't match what the chemists told me.  But I've heard their tips (pH balance, above 94F, possibly going one notch higher on output if usage is consistently higher, etc) and don't have their problems.

I hope this helps.  Good luck moving forward.