Frequence of testing water

[mkotubs]

How often do you recommend testing the water quality?  My tub is 2 weeks old and I'm consistently testing the water, because my PH, Alkalinity , Chlorine are up/down.   This is causing me to add more and more chemicals every day.

Is the best practice to test once a week ?  

I'm using Dichlor 1-2 TBL after each soak.  Right after I add this my Chlorine shot up between 5 - 10 ppm.  The next day I check and i'm down to zero.   PH seems to roam between good to low,  its never high.

My Alkanility started out ok, than dropped and I've been increasing it every day.  Right now it's good sitting at 110ppm.

I'm testing with dip sticks and just order a Taylor test kit.

The other night, i borrowed a pool kit, and my PH was way high and chlorine was still sitting at zero. The pool kit only tested total chlorine not free chlorine.  At this point I haven't added anything to the water and plan to level things for a couple of days, except 1-2 tbls od diclor after each use.

Is this a good plan to wait a few days?

  

[drewstar]

Yup. Wait a few days. Over testing results in over analyzing and adding chemicals at every turn until you finally end up with hot tub stew.

I add about 1 teaspoon per person of dichlor after each soak, not Tablespoons. (I have a 350 gal tub).  I try to get the Cl level up to about 5 ppm after each soak. 10 ppm, you're shocking the tub and over doing it, IMHO.

I test the water no more than once a week, and on a day that I did not add dichlor.

[gturn]

How often do you recommend testing the water quality?  My tub is 2 weeks old and I'm consistently testing the water, because my PH, Alkalinity , Chlorine are up/down.   This is causing me to add more and more chemicals every day.

Is the best practice to test once a week ?  

I'm using Dichlor 1-2 TBL after each soak.  Right after I add this my Chlorine shot up between 5 - 10 ppm.  The next day I check and i'm down to zero.   PH seems to roam between good to low,  its never high.

My Alkanility started out ok, than dropped and I've been increasing it every day.  Right now it's good sitting at 110ppm.

I'm testing with dip sticks and just order a Taylor test kit.

The other night, i borrowed a pool kit, and my PH was way high and chlorine was still sitting at zero. The pool kit only tested total chlorine not free chlorine.  At this point I haven't added anything to the water and plan to level things for a couple of days, except 1-2 tbls od diclor after each use.

Is this a good plan to wait a few days?
  

I use Bromine and have not had all the swings of levels others keep discribing.  After I get my ph, alkaline, and Calcium adjusted, all I have had to do was keep tablets in the floater and shock once a week.  The only times I have had to add anything else is when adding or changing water, then I add some ph up and calcium to get my levels up then they have stayed constant.  I use to test daily until I got the floater openings adjusted right but after that I have cut back to weekly testing because nothing seems to change.  If I have a big group use the spa I test levels and do a shock but the levels don't seem to change even then.

[svspa]

mko,

you'll get to know your tub soon and then you'll be able to go longer between actually testing your chem levels.

drewstar is right also that it sounds like you're giving it a lot of dichlor. If there is a norm for most folks it's about 1 teaspoon per person after soaking. Of course that's dependent somewhat on tub size.

you shouldn't need to be constantly adjusting alk and ph, those should stay pretty stable if you are only adding dichlor. normally you're told to balance your alk and ph and then for the most part just add dichlor daily and shock (mps or dichlor) every 7-10 days.

are you shocking the tub at all? your high total chlorine reading may be that you are adding a lot of chlorine but not quite enough for a breakpoint chlorination to oxidize the combined chlorines.

Steve

[mkotubs]

Ok, my tub is 500 gallons

After a soak is it 1-2 tsps/tbls per person?  And do you do this after each use or final soak of the day?  Right now since it's new we have different people using the tub at different times (Wife and I,  than the grown-up kids with friends)

[drewstar]

Ok, my tub is 500 gallons

After a soak is it 1-2 tsps/tbls per person?  And do you do this after each use or final soak of the day?  Right now since it's new we have different people using the tub at different times (Wife and I,  than the grown-up kids with friends)

i would do it at the end of the day.  Add the dichlor, run the pumps for 10-15 minutes and then go check the levels.  Try to get it to 5 ppm.  

[Snowbird]

As a general rule, I test with a Taylor kit once a week around noon or so; more often if the tub feels funky.  On test days, we do not go in the tub before the test.  If I need to add more than a normal amount of any chemical, I will delay using the tub for a few hours.

I use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp per person after each soak, depending on how long we were in and how the water feels.  Shock on Sundays, but I use the Taylor to determine the amount of shock required.  Ozone, Nature2, Dichlor are my main chemicals.  Other chemicals I use are soda ash, pH Down and baking soda.  Never any defoamer or stuff to clear the water.  Just for grins, we occassionally use an eraser pad to wipe the tub down while we are in it.  We do a water and Nature2 change every 90 days and swap out filters during the change.  Soak the used ones in a Clorox solution overnight, hose them down and air dry them in the sun, or in a warm room if the weather is bad.

I over-managed the water when the tub was new.  It has a learning curve and eventually it ill settle out.

[Gomboman]

Go Chargers. Sorry Snowbird.  

[jfish63]

snowbird what is the mix for the filter soak?