Always maintain your sanitizer.
The warm water of hot tubs would provide an ideal breeding ground for potentially harmful microorganisms if we did not initiate and maintain an effective sanitizer system to control them. Bacteria from our bodies, as well as airborne mold spores, algae, and even viruses can find their way into the water.
If your spa has an ozonator, and most spas manufactured by Futura Spas do, he ozonator will do most of the work of sanitizing you water, however you will still need to keep a small bromine residual. You will also have to shock your water. Shock oxidizes contaminants.
Shock treatment is simply the routine of applying a compound to your spa water which oxidizes or breaks-down the dead organic material left behind from your sanitizer system, as well as non-filterable material such as dirt, soap films, hair spray and perspiration. Allowed to remain in the water, these contaminants provide a food source for bacteria and algae. Regular shock treatments eliminate them and the organics on which bacteria feed.
We recommend a non-chlorine MPS shock, sometimes called Shox, although lithium hypochlorite granular chlorine is also a good shock to use at startup and to correct occasional water problems if they occur. (Lithium hypochlorite should be pre-dissolved by itself in a plastic bucket of water, prior to adding to the spa water).
Note: If using Bromine Tablets as your sanitizer, the MPS compound in Shox also activates the bromide ion (which by itself has no disinfecting capability) to become bromine, which then rapidly becomes the active sanitizer: hypobromous acid, in spa water. Upon reaction with bacteria and other contaminants, hypobromous acid is reduced back to bromide ion, ready to be reactivated again by the next dosage of Shox shock.
Balance your alkalinity and pH
Control your water balance.
When the mineral components of spa water are correct proportion to one another, the result is balanced water. Balanced means that it is neither too alkaline (high pH) which causes destructive scale buildup on equipment, nor too acidic (low pH) which may erode plumbing and cause costly damage to spa pumps, seals and heaters. Balanced water has a more pleasant feel to the skin, and allows your sanitizer to work more effectively. We take periodic measurements of spa water with test strips to achieve balance.
Total Alkalinity (TA) & pH
TA is important. It is the measure of all the alkaline material in the water and really an indicator of the ability of the water to resist changes in pH-- the water's buffering capacity. Too high TA is much less of a problem than too low. Always adjust TA first, then check your pH. Maintaining the proper TA will often bring the pH into line automatically. Water chemistry is balanced by adjusting its TA and pH with compounds such as Alkalinity Increaser, pH Decrease and pH Increase.
Hardness
The hardness level of spa water-- measured as the amount of dissolved calcium, is also important. Insufficient calcium hardness can sometimes promote equipment corrosion and also result in water foaming problems. Although there is no practical way to reduce extremely high hardness levels, it is easy to increase levels which are too low by adding calcium. NOTE: Increasing calcium hardness is rarely necessary.
Stain & Scale Prevention
To prevent problems with spa shell staining and scale formation, when refilling your spa, be sure to add mineral stain & scale preventer.
In general you should keep your spa at the following levels:
- Bromine 1.5 - 2.0 PPM
- PH 7.2 - 7.4
- TA 120 - 140 PPM
- Hardness 150 PPM +
Bromine should be added to the water in the form of a slow dissolving tablet in a floater.
Water should be tested weekly with a 3 way test strip.
Filter Should be cleaned weekly.
Shock should be added weekly or after heavy use (like a party)