Spa water chemistry is definitely more difficult than pool chemistry to “balance” as the volume of water is smaller. Therefore, any chemical agent that is added drastically changes the chemistry. That being said, caring for your spa is very easy. It’s important to remember to not panic, we can get you out of just about any situation. Also, don’t drain and fill the spa just because things don’t seem right. Filling your spa with fresh water in Ojai can cause “dissolved solids” in the water to come out of solution and stick to the walls of the spa – it’s kind of like sitting on sand paper. Of course, if you’re into that kind of thing, this is just my opinion.
First thing to do if you're having spa issues: Bring us a sample of your tap water or the water spa water. Let us lab test your water for $10, it will save you much more in headaches.
Chemistry
Spa chemicals can drive you crazy if you don’t understand the basics. Once you get the basics, it is easy to understand why you may or may not need these chemicals and how to use them. Below are the chemicals used to treat spa water. We do not include Polyguanides in our list as we do not recommend them to homeowners for use. If you have a Sanitizer or other Chemical sold under the name “Leisuretime” or “Baquacil” or, for that matter, any other name or chemical composition that looks foreign to you, give us a call so we can determine if they are “Polys”. We can then provide you some caution before you go ahead with them.
Sanitizers
In Hot Water Chemistry something has to kill the viruses and bacteria that can easily take hold in your water - these chemicals are called Sanitizers. Sanitizers simply stated, “Kill bacteria and viruses, and other things, that are not good for you”. By the way, if you hear or see the words “chemical free” or “no chemicals” – this is simply not true. Anything you put in a spa or pool has a chemical composition, the question is; can one chemical be more healthy for you than another?
To see what Chlorine Alternatives we use and recommend, see our article: Alternatives to Chlorine. Common spa chemical sanitizers: Chlorine, Bromine, Ozone, Copper and/or Silver Ions – often sold under the came “Mineral Sanitizers”. All of these require the supplement: Oxidizers. We recommend: Mineral Sanitizers with regular oxidation. Our favorite: SpaRx.
Oxidizers
OK, now you put some type of Sanitizer in your water, are we done yet? Nope, let’s follow this through. If all your sanitizer did all day and night was kill things in the water what would happen? Think of it as a battle field, what if an army killed people all day and night? What would happen eventually? Think about it a while…… Hopefully you got it….. Well the bodies would stack up right! And if you did not get rid of those bodies you would have a real mess on your hands, right? And if your sanitizer got low with all those bodies stacking up you might find yourself getting ill, very ill. Well, that is what Oxidizers do; they rid the water of the dead stuff. This is why chlorine is the most often used chemical in water, chlorine has the unique property of being both a Sanitizer and an Oxidizer. So, in short, Oxidizers are good, very good. They are usually a dry form of Hydrogen Peroxide, often the chemical called: Potassium Monopersulfate (we say, “Monopersulfate”).
pH up & pH down
[Important: Read the "Notes for Adjusting pH in Ojai"]
Acidic Neutral or “Base” Alkaline
Itchy Not itchy Scale
6.7 – 7.1 7.2-7.6 7.9 - 8.4
- pH Down (Sodium Bisulfate): Adding pH down to water makes the water more Base or Acidic. [More Base if you water had high pH and you added acid].
- pH Up (Sodium Carbonate): Adding pH Up to water makes the water more Base or Alkaline. [More Base if you pH was low and you added pH up].
Notes for adjusting pH in Ojai When adjusting pH in Ojai we recommend adjusting your pH Down only once a week. Do not adjust your spa pH Down too often for two reasons:
- It will drive you mad especially if you just filled your spa, and;
- It will drive you mad even if you did not just fill your spa. The details of why are covered under Alkalinity.
Alkalinity
Alkalinity is probably the most important chemical to pool and spa professionals. For your mental health, this article will not cover all the reasons why. If you really want to torture yourself, see our article under Basic Ojai Pool Chemistry.
Alkalinity is what helps “hold” your pH steady - it can keep your pH, “in the neutral zone” longer if you can keep it in the proper range. Here’s the rub: Good luck keeping Alkalinity in range. I’m not even going to give you the specifics, just add acid or pH Down no more than once per week in Ojai. And add no more than a capful – about 2 ounces or so. No need to be exact, you won’t throw things off if you just add pH Down once a week. Do not add pH down more than once a week in Ojai unless you have been specifically advised by a Spa professional to do so. Also, we recommend adding about 4 ounces of acid or pH Down when you fill your Spa and do it when the water level reaches about 25% full. If you forget and its 50% or 100% full, just add it then, no worries (although we prefer you add it when we recommend).
None of the following additives are required, but they can really improve the look of your spa!
- Metal & Scale Control (or Water Line Control) If you have this – add about an ounce or two every week. It’s good stuff.
- Clarifiers Clarifiers basically take microscopic material in the water and make them bigger and bigger and bigger until they get stuck in the filter – put two or three ounces in a week. It’s good stuff – but clean your filter regularly!
- Foam Down If you see foam that will not dissipate, bring me a sample. Use the foam down until we can determine why you have foam.
- Filter Cleaner We’ve tried them all and use only “Filter Blaster” or just soak your cartridge filter in a light solution of distilled white vinegar and water or, a light solution of Muriatic Acid and water. Always add Acids to Water – never Water to Acids.
