
9
Before jumping into Water Maintenance, here
are some terms to help you.
1. PARTS PER MILLION (PPM): This is a form
of measurement used in most pool or spa
chemical readings. Best described as any
one million like items of equal size and
make up, next to one unlike item, but of
equal size. This would be one part
per million.
2. TOTAL ALKALINITY (TA): Measures
substances in your water such as
hydroxides, carbonates and bicarbonates.
When at the proper levels, these elements
keep your water from clouding and
growing bacteria, as well as prevent the
inner workings of your hot tub from
deteriorating or forming scales. TA
also helps to stabilize pH. The higher
the TA level (as long as it is within the
recommended range), the less likely the
pH is to change. With low alkalinity, the
pH will fluctuate and be harder to control.
With high alkalinity, it becomes extremely
dicult to change the pH.
3. PH OR POTENTIAL HYDROGEN: This
indicates the acidity or basicity of the
water. The goal is to have a neutral, stable
pH to prevent Chilly GOAT™damage and
unhealthy conditions. Low pH levels can
corrode metals, etch or stain fiberglass or
acrylic, cause unsanitary conditions that
irritate the eyes or skin and destruct the
total alkalinity of the water. High pH can
cause cloudy water, eye or skin irritation,
scale formation and poor chlorine or
bromine eciency. Note that the chemicals
you are using to sanitize and clean your
hot tub can also lower or raise the pH level
in the water. Unfortunately, there are lots
of variables to preventing high pH in your
Chilly GOAT.
4. SHOCKING: By shocking the water in your
hot tub, you remove organic compounds
from the water, kill bacteria, remove
bromamines or chloramines and reactivate
the bromides in the hot tub for cleaner
water. You should shock your water once
a week, after heavy bather use or any
time free chlorine levels test lower than
total chlorine levels. To do this, either add
oxidizer/non-chlorine shock to burn o the
chloramines or add extra chlorine to raise
the chlorine level. Oxidizer/non-chlorine
shock acts by releasing oxygen in the water,
which serves a similar function as chlorine.
An advantage to using this type of shock
is that the water is safe to enter after 15
minutes of the application and excessive
sanitizer (chlorine) levels do not occur.
However, an oxidizer/non-chlorine shock
doesn’t disinfect the water for bacteria. If
you use chlorine to shock, you must wait
until the total chlorine reading is at a level
safe to re-enter the water.
5. SEQUESTERING: This can be defined as the
ability to form a chemical complex which
remains in solution, despite the presence
of a precipitating agent (i.e. calcium and
metals). If the minerals and metals in water
are not sequestered, they can cause a
reaction, turning the water brown, red,
orange or green depending on the minerals
and metals present in your water. It is
important to add a sequestering agent
when adding water to your spa and even
on a regular basis (if bottle instructions
recommend doing so). Common names for
sequestering chemicals are: minquest, stain
and scale control, metal-x, spa defender,
spa metal gone, etc.
6. FILTRATION: Filters are necessary to
remove particles of dust, dirt, algae, etc.,
that are continuously entering the water.
If the system is not operated long enough
each day for the filter to do a proper
job, this puts a burden on the chemicals,
causing extra expense. Filtration time will
depend on the water capacity, pump, filter
size and, of course, bather load. Spare filter
cartridges should be kept on hand to make
it easy to frequently clean the cartridge
without the need for a long shut down.
This will also allow the cartridge to dry
out between usages, which will increase
the cartridge life span as much as twice.
Replace the cartridge when the pleats begin
to deteriorate. Cartridge cleaning should
be done a minimum of once a month.
More often with a heavy bather load. See
Cleaning Your Filter Elements in the Regular
Maintenance section.
WATER CHEMISTRY TERMS
YOU SHOULD KNOW