Follow these steps now and avoid any issues going into winter

www.rickrobinson.kwrealty.com

Well the summer is mostly over and I have to say it went by too quick, I did not even get a chance to go to the beach this year.

I will say that this summer was a beautiful one very mild temperatures nothing way too hot and not a lot of rain so all in all I would say we had a great summer.

Now it is the end of September and most people are closing their pools and opening their spas for the fall and winter months.

If you have a spa and you use it all winter then you will want to follow these steps now and avoid any issues going into winter.

• Drain the spa and wipe down the surface with an approved surface cleaner (no abrasive cleansers as they can scratch the acrylic)
• Soak the filter in a filter cleaning solution overnight if your filter is over 1 year old you may want to consider replacing it now.
• Make sure you have all the necessary chemicals to start up the spa once you have it refilled with water. You will need a metal remover, PH up, PH down, Alkalinity boost, calcium increaser, and your sanitizer either chlorine or bromine.
• Fill the spa with water, put the hose down into the filter compartment first to push through any air bubbles in the lines, as the spa is filling add 8 oz of metal remover.
• Once the spa is full test the water with your test kit and determine where the PH and Alkalinity are at. Always add the Alkalinity first as this is a buffer for the PH and will help stabilize it. Once the Alkalinity level is good move on to the PH, then the Calcium Hardness.
• Providing all the previous levels are now good wait till the temperature of the water reaches 70 degrees or higher then add your sanitizer either chlorine or Bromine.

Now the spa should be good to go and ready for the winter use, you should not have to drain the water again till march if you do this by Thanksgiving the rule of thumb is every 4 months.

Now is also a great time to invest in a Fire pit, these units are a great way to still enjoy the outdoors for a little while longer without freezing your --- off. I am getting my fire pit ready this weekend so go out and get your today and don't forget to stock up on some fire wood.

Until Next Time...

My spa water smells bad what should I do?

Rick the Spa Guy

Very often these days I hear, My spa water smells bad what do I do?


 I started repairing spas in the mid 1990's and I have seen my share of problems. 


Most of these problems can be eliminated by better spa water maintenance.

One of the main reasons for this is that whether you use Bromine or Chlorine the bacteria start to build up when the level of inactive sanitizer becomes larger than the amount of active sanitizer' then you get what are known as Chlorimines or Bromomines these can cause the odor and or cloudiness in the water.

The main line of defense for this problem is to use 2 tablespoons of Oxygen Shock (Potassium Peroxy Monopersulfate) per 500 gallons of water weekly or one tablespoon every time you get out of the spa if you are a frequent user of the spa. This should eliminate the odor problem and allow the filter to do its job better.

You need to be sure the PH and Alkalinity levels are correct. The PH should be 7.2 - 7.6 and the Alkalinity should be 90 - 120 parts per million.

Remember also that all spas need to be drained and refilled periodically. Most manufacturers recommend draining and refilling the spas every 3-4 months. Be careful in the wintertime when you drain a spa in the cold climates, do not leave them empty or you will have a nice frozen cooler in your back yard. In my last post I went over what to do if that happens.

The following is a rule of thumb for when it is time to change the water in your spa.

Lets say you have 400 gallons of water in your spa, take the number 400 and divide that by 3, once you get that answer then divide that number by the average amount of people using the spa daily, the answer you get is the estimated number of days between water changes to keep the water at it's best.

So....400 : 3 = 133.34 div by 2 people per day = 66.67 days between water changes. As the number of bathers increase the amount of days between water changes will decrease. These are only guide lines you know your spa the best.

So again the more you teat the spa water and add necessary chemicals the less smells you will have and the water will stay clean and clear.

Until next time...