Cloudy water

[doodle]

OK y'all - I need some advice.  I've got cloudy water again, and I seem to be on a repeating cycle with this problem so obviously I've got a piece missing from my water management puzzle.  Here's the scenario:

My water starts out crystal clear and stays clear while in use.   Then after a time the water will be perfect and clear until its in use and then while the jets are on the water will become completely opaque with zillions of tiny bubbles (almost like the water is carbonated and by opaque I mean it practically looks like I'm sitting in skim milk).  There is not an issue with surface foam, and once the jets are off the water will return to a crystal clear state after a few minutes. No off odors to report.  No scum line or any deposits visible on the tub.  It will stay like this for a while and then at some point I open the cover to find the water cloudy and I can't get it to clear up.  I then give up and change the water.   I'm on my third water change.  The first fill and my current fill both seemed to develop the problem between 3-4 weeks.  The 2nd fill lasted 2 months, and never really got cloudy but the water was getting opaque again and I could tell it was coming so I went ahead and changed (only difference with this fill was that the second fill I was using an after-market filter, 1st and 3rd use the Marquis filter).  I had attributed the improvement between the 1st and 2nd fill to my improved knowledge on water balancing, but now that my issue has returned so soon on this fill, obviously that wasn't it.   We shower before using the tub and swim suit soap isn't an issue and no one else uses the tub.

Tub is a Marquis Spirit 200 gallon tub w/ ozonator and built in spa frog dispenser

my routine
In-line Spa Frog (bromine and mineral cartridges)
Non-chlorine shock once a week
test strips a couple of times during the week to make sure nothing out of whack
test water every weekend (the water seems to stay pretty well balanced - the only thing I really need to adjust is raising the calcium hardness (its starts out really low after the fill and seems to take a lot of hardness increase to bring it up--like double what the package says I should need) and sometimes raise the TA a bit which will drift down if I leave it on its own.)
I use Spa Pure brand products.


Here are my current readings from a spa dealers tester:
Total Bromine - 12.3 (but I had really shocked the heck out of it yesterday trying to clear the water)  it's usually around 1.
pH - 7.8 (usually ranges between 7.6-7.8 on my tests)
TA - 94 (usually ranges around 70s-80s on my test and this takes chemicals to keep it in the 80s otherwise it will drift down)
CH - 250
Copper - 0.1, Iron 0.2

The first time I had the cloudy water my TA was 25 (that was before I had bought my own test kit) and raising it improved the cloudiness but it didn't cure it.  I had thought maybe that was the problem again and I was getting inaccurate results from my tester but my TA and PH were both inline with the dealer results.

The dealer was a little at a loss since my numbers were pretty good and she told me to run the tub a couple of hours without the cover this afternoon and see if it clears up and bring in another sample tomorrow.    So ..... do any of you have any ideas in the meantime?
 

[mas]

As my water ages, I too see the phenomenon of lots of bubbles when the jets are on. After a minute or two, the water is clear. I don't really worry about it. Unlike yours, my water does not get cloudy. So, I think your bubbles and cloudy water problems are two different issues.

I would aim for a higher bromine level: I think "1" is too low, and might account for your cloudy water. According to what I have read, 2.5 ppm is considered the minimum concentration needed for safe water.

I use Brilliance system with a floating dispenser of granulated bromine.  In my experience, when the bromine level drops, I can shock (MPS) it to raise the level. So, to avoid wild swings in the bromine level, I add small amounts during the week. I add about 1/4 dry ounces   after spa usage once or twice a week, depending on spa usage.  I still shock weekly with 1 and 1/3 oz for my 450 gal Optima.

[Hottubguy]

OK y'all - I need some advice.  I've got cloudy water again, and I seem to be on a repeating cycle with this problem so obviously I've got a piece missing from my water management puzzle.  Here's the scenario:

My water starts out crystal clear and stays clear while in use.   Then after a time the water will be perfect and clear until its in use and then while the jets are on the water will become completely opaque with zillions of tiny bubbles (almost like the water is carbonated and by opaque I mean it practically looks like I'm sitting in skim milk).  There is not an issue with surface foam, and once the jets are off the water will return to a crystal clear state after a few minutes. No off odors to report.  No scum line or any deposits visible on the tub.  It will stay like this for a while and then at some point I open the cover to find the water cloudy and I can't get it to clear up.  I then give up and change the water.   I'm on my third water change.  The first fill and my current fill both seemed to develop the problem between 3-4 weeks.  The 2nd fill lasted 2 months, and never really got cloudy but the water was getting opaque again and I could tell it was coming so I went ahead and changed (only difference with this fill was that the second fill I was using an after-market filter, 1st and 3rd use the Marquis filter).  I had attributed the improvement between the 1st and 2nd fill to my improved knowledge on water balancing, but now that my issue has returned so soon on this fill, obviously that wasn't it.   We shower before using the tub and swim suit soap isn't an issue and no one else uses the tub.

Tub is a Marquis Spirit 200 gallon tub w/ ozonator and built in spa frog dispenser

my routine
In-line Spa Frog (bromine and mineral cartridges)
Non-chlorine shock once a week
test strips a couple of times during the week to make sure nothing out of whack
test water every weekend (the water seems to stay pretty well balanced - the only thing I really need to adjust is raising the calcium hardness (its starts out really low after the fill and seems to take a lot of hardness increase to bring it up--like double what the package says I should need) and sometimes raise the TA a bit which will drift down if I leave it on its own.)
I use Spa Pure brand products.


Here are my current readings from a spa dealers tester:
Total Bromine - 12.3 (but I had really shocked the heck out of it yesterday trying to clear the water)  it's usually around 1.
pH - 7.8 (usually ranges between 7.6-7.8 on my tests)
TA - 94 (usually ranges around 70s-80s on my test and this takes chemicals to keep it in the 80s otherwise it will drift down)
CH - 250
Copper - 0.1, Iron 0.2

The first time I had the cloudy water my TA was 25 (that was before I had bought my own test kit) and raising it improved the cloudiness but it didn't cure it.  I had thought maybe that was the problem again and I was getting inaccurate results from my tester but my TA and PH were both inline with the dealer results.

The dealer was a little at a loss since my numbers were pretty good and she told me to run the tub a couple of hours without the cover this afternoon and see if it clears up and bring in another sample tomorrow.    So ..... do any of you have any ideas in the meantime?

The bromine at 1ppm is fine for that system.  What do you have your filter cycles set at?  Are they at the factory presets or did you program them.  How much use is the tub getting and by how many people?

[clover]

When you refer to bubbles, are they effervescing bubbles coming off the surface?

RE: the cloudy water are you on Well Water?

[kitchener]

The bromine at 1ppm is fine for that system.  What do you have your filter cycles set at?  Are they at the factory presets or did you program them.  How much use is the tub getting and by how many people?

Having the same problem with my new Jacuzzi J470 (except I use chlorine instead of bromine, I was reading this thread for advice.  Your question above caught my eye.  The factory setting by Jacuzzi is 12 hours for the filter cycle.  Should I increase it, and for how many hours?

[hottubdan]

Try water clarifier?

Drain and refiill?

[Topline Mike]

You mentioned test strips, and also a test kit?  Which do you have? 

On my first fill, I used bromine.  We got 60 days out of it with very heavy usage.  That was April and May.  I am now using dichlor then bleach method.  June, July, August, September, and now in the middle of October, and our water is still sparkling.  There was one day in the middle of the summer that I lifted the lid to the tub, and the water stunk and was cloudy.  This was completely my fault as I had not added any bleach for 3 or 4 days.  I got busy and just plain neglected the tub.  So, I shocked with bleach.  It didn't get clear right away, if I recall it took a couple days to look good again.   

I test my water with a taylor test kit.  It is very accurate, and will give you peace of mind that you are where you want to be.  I would bet your cloudy water has something to do with lack of sanitizer.  EVERY time we use the tub, I add bleach right after we get out. 

[Hottubguy]

The bromine at 1ppm is fine for that system.  What do you have your filter cycles set at?  Are they at the factory presets or did you program them.  How much use is the tub getting and by how many people?

Having the same problem with my new Jacuzzi J470 (except I use chlorine instead of bromine, I was reading this thread for advice.  Your question above caught my eye.  The factory setting by Jacuzzi is 12 hours for the filter cycle.  Should I increase it, and for how many hours?

That's the circ pump setting do the regular pumps come on at all?

[kitchener]

That's the circ pump setting do the regular pumps come on at all?

I'm glad you asked.  I just re-read the filter programming section again.  There's a 2 minute blow-out cycle where the main jets come on at noon each day, but unless I go into programming, nothing more (for the main jets) -- looks like default was no additional main jet filtration unless I program it for more.   Reading up on it, however, I CAN add a main jet filtration cycle from anywhere from 0 minutes to 120 minutes, either daily, or I pick the days of the week I want it to do this.

What should I try?

[Budule]

mine came with something called "Bright and Clear "  , wasn't but a couple days ago when I noticed mine was cloudy so I put in a couple ounces and WHOA !.....in 10 minutes time I had the grossest ring of foamy scum all the way around it !!!   nasty.....wiped it up with a big towel (some was really on there .....and some got in the headrest  .....J375 )  Anyway , water is all sparkly now so  it seemed to work.....

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Bright and Clear coagulates microscopic particles, creating larger particles, that can then be filtered out. If the particles happen to be lighter than water, you get exactly what you're seeing.