Balancing act (chemicals, of course)

[Tatooed_Lady]

I know some of the basics...everything has a "happy" level that it should be at, in order to keep the tub germies away. Here's my latest question though....
Is there a site or chart that shows how much chemical needs to be added per XX gallons of water to raise or lower basic levels?
I just got some test strips to see where I stand with my unsoftened tap water. Results are:
Free chlorine - .5
pH - 7.2
Total alkalinity - 240
cyanuric acid - 0
I also saw that with the test strips came a little sheet that had PART of the info I was looking for...just chlorine and superchlorination charts for spas, and the rest was for pools. Can I just cut back the amount used for the pools to the gallonage of my tub? (say....increase TA by 50ppm in 1,000 gallon pool uses 12oz of sodium bicarbonate...so for a 500 gallon spa use 6 oz to raise by 50ppm?) I'd imagine I'll get better info when the tub comes, but for now I'm just trying to figure out if I'm even on the right track, so when it's delivered I don't feel panicky.

[vlady]

Hey Tatooed_Lady, no need to worry about all of that stuff.  

I live 70 miles away from my dealer.  So when my tub was delivered, the dealer had included an instruction sheet along with my startup chemicals.  That really took the guess work out of what I needed to do on startup.  Then they invited me back to the dealership for a class to go over everything, including the chemicals.
 
Once you do it a time or two, you will  be able to develop your own routine.

[svspa]

Lady,

You can get the Taylor Testing Guide from rhtubs for $6.95

http://www.rhtubs.com/store/taylor-refill.htm

It will tell you more about spa chemical maintenance then you want to know, including the charts you are looking for.

You could also get the full Taylor test kit. I normally use the strips but occasionally I'll check the accuracy of the strips by testing with the Taylor kit.

Steve.

[svspa]

Oh and yes like vlady says, don't stress it's really pretty easy. Just don't put pounds of chems in at a time, small doses (teaspoons/tablespoons) not shovel fulls.

Steve.

[TrikkeAddict]

The Taylor test kit comes with a booklet.  You do a simple test then look in the book to see how much you need to add to raise or lower pH or TA.  Using the Taylor test kit is much more accurate and than the test strips.

[Tatooed_Lady]

In that case, I think I may just have to purchase the Taylor Test Kit....the strips are part of the spa package deal, so they didn't cost me anything....
I find the color codes a real PITA to read, wether strips or the drop kit I've got for my aquarium, since it's all color based, and sometimes the colors aren't so easily matched...
svspa, have you also found your strips are off in left field compared to your Taylor kit readings? The only one I know for sure is my pH is accurate at 7.2.....drop test and strip showed same number....

[tony]

The Taylor test kit is well worth the money.  With it, you will become an expert at testing your water.  The Taylor booklet that comes with it is extremely informative.

[ssbraun]

Last time I posted this, I got laughed at , but since you asked, here it is again  :

http://www.havuz.org/pool-calculators.htm#sodium_bicarb


Steve

[Tatooed_Lady]

ssbraun, thanks! It'd be easier if it weren't in metric, but I'll suffer through the translations as best as I can. I hadn't seen that anywhere yet, guess I haven't got far enough into the archives.

[svspa]

I have found the test strips to be pretty accurate when I compare their results to the Taylor kit. Brands and batches of test strips can be different though, so you never know when you might get a bad batch.

Note that the PITA factor is only slightly better with the Taylor kit, still comparing the color of the water in the vials with a color sample. Sometimes hard to distinguish.

It does give you a way to test total combined chlorine, which is a useful test if you are using dichlor.

Most likely though you'll get on a schedule and just know when and how much chems your spa needs.

Steve.  

[windsurfdog]

And couple more comments.....

Water chemistry is like horseshoes and hand gernades......close is good enough.  It is not an exact science and you can drive up the TDS of your water very quickly by chemical overuse.  Time is your friend and less it best.....

And, BTW, you can't get any better than the Taylor Test Kit and it's accompanying book, IMHO.

[Tatooed_Lady]

Well, hopefully I'll be good and patient with the water chemistry....I'll take that tubowner oath of using the least to get the most to last the longest and smell the freshest or whatever the oath is.....I just like the idea of knowing ahead of time what numbers I'm dealing with from the tap, so I can find out APPROXIMATELY what I'm looking at for chemical amounts to start out. I'll be checking our softened water as well, just to see what the levels are there...I don't have something to test TDS though......
Has anyone used a mix of hard and soft water to fill a tub, due to cold weather and needing the softened hot water for any reason? Is it ok to fill a tub with just cold water (remember, Wisconsin here) even if it's below freezing the day everything comes together?
By the time this all comes together it SHOULD be mid/late March, and the weather SHOULD be above freezing, but who knows, around here....

[vlady]

I have a water softener system.  I've got a Sundance Cameo and the owner's manual stated that you should use 1/2 soft water and 1/2 hard water so that is what I did.

[orlandoguy]

I have the Taylor kit because the strip bleed testing ph.  The little color boxes on the side are hard for me to match the exact color to so i just know if the ph is a light purple after the sample and 5 drops of phenol red, I am good.

[Tatooed_Lady]

I have the Taylor kit because the strip bleed testing ph.  The little color boxes on the side are hard for me to match the exact color to so i just know if the ph is a light purple after the sample and 5 drops of phenol red, I am good.

cool......I know it wouldn't be so rough to match the side of the bottle if you couldn't see the different shades of pixels! Maybe I need to hold the bottle farther away or something....but I'm going to figure out what works well, and stick with that....
Thanks again, people!