We are closing on our house on Tuesday and have a hot tub on the back deck. It looks nice and was recently serviced at our request.

The hot tub was serviced about 4 weeks ago and has been set on about 75 degrees just to keep it from freezing. I went over to the house to do a final walkthrough before closing on Tuesday. I bought a test strip kit and the results looked a little concerning. I have attached a photo of the test strip. Where do I go from here? I would like to sit in the thing after a long day of moving, but realize I may need to drain it and start over.

Throw a stray cat in it and see if it dissolves it's fur.

Don't drain it and start over, trying to get the balance correct on fresh water will be a complete nightmare. Just do a google search on each of the problem areas and start from there. I have no practical knowledge of maintaining a hot tub, but I know it's easier to work with the water that is in there than to start over. My wife took nearly 2 months to get our pool correct when starting with fresh water.
If they have been using it regularly, it probably just needs a few tweaks to get it up to speed.

Where the chlorine is high, I suspect they may have "shocked" it... if it has been closed up since it just might be still elevated from it.

I'd start bringing the temp up and running the jets a bit to see if that helps get the chlorine levels back down. If not, you may need to add regular water or chlorine naturalization chemicals (I'd advise bringing a sample to the pool store for best results).

Absolutely, positively, 100%, drain that thing. Hot tub water gets GROSS. It will have hundreds/thousands of dissolved PPM solids from the bathing of others in it. Gross.

It’s very easy to set up and you’ll get a hang of it pretty quick.

I learned early on, if the water gets funky, just drain it and start over. It’s much easier to fix the water using clean fresh water than starting with murky, funky water.

Chlorine burns off in less than a day or two. You can dump a metric ass load of chlorine into hot tub water and it will be essentially gone in two days...

Take the filter down to the pool/spa store in your area and buy a new one . Throw the old filter away. They are full of other peoples skin cells and other yuck.

The first chemical in is calcium . Make sure it’s at the proper level before anything else . I believe it’s 80-200 ppm. You never have to add it again, it stays at the correct level for the life of the water, until you drain again. Then check and adjust ph level. Usually you add PH up... hardly ever have to use PH down.

Bromine or chlorine are the hot tub sanitizers. I never had good luck with bromine. It’s better for sensitive skin than chlorine though...

Bubba...I trust you do not sell hot tubs for a living.

quote:

It looks nice and was recently serviced at our request.

Call the company that serviced it. If “service” included draining and refilling and replacing the filter, work on balancing the chemicals yourself. If they just tested and shocked the current water, drain and refill. Bubbatime is spot on- you don’t know what went on with the previous owners and even if it’s completely sterilized, it’s still nasty.

Take a water sample to your local pool supply store, they can often run an analysis and give you a step by step routine for correcting the water.

Generally you increase alkalinity, decrease PH, and add some chlorine every week or two depending on use. My initial thought is that your alkalinity needs to be increased, which should begin to correct your PH and bring the chlorine back down. All three work together, and when one is off they are all off. Always correct alkalinity first, then PH, then chlorine. You may have a "bromine" spa and not chlorine, look for the type on replaceable canisters that lift out the water supply near the filter. Doesn't matter which kind of chemical, either work just fine, but bromine won't damage your clothes or system as quickly. There is also a "mineral" canister that keeps your system balanced. These canisters last me about 4 months, shake them and look for particles. If some come out, you are still good. There are other things you can add for softening or to reduce bubbles.

No big deal to drain the tub and start over, just BE SURE to put the hose into the filter opening for refilling. Leave your plug open and this will flush all of the old water out of the lines, then close it off to begin filling. If you don't fill from the filter area, you could end up pumping dry air and potentially damage your system. You may also want to inspect the filter itself, as debris gets well hidden inside. These should last 6 months, and I clean mine every 3 with a jet sprayer.

I found after adding a hot tub that I spent more time than expected tending to the water quality. After a few months I had the hang of it. Getting in on a 15 degree morning, like I did on Christmas day, makes it all worthwhile!

I’d likely want fresh water...

I agree with Bubba. You could easily adjust what you have but starting fresh without other people’s gunk would be nice. I don’t have hot tub experience but plenty of pool experience. Hot tubs are different in that chlorine burns off fast. Are you sure they weren’t using bromine? If you are switching then draining is definitely better.

Not to insult Jeff but learning a bit first will help a lot. I can get any pool with new water in spec in a day or 2. The only way I see it taking months is if it was tested at a pool store and they told what chemicals to add. You need to learn to test yourself and know how to adjust. It’s not hard but takes some research.

Forgot to mention...the amount of chemicals you use will depend on the gallon size of your spa, the bottles will typically provide these measurements. Also, your pool store analysis can give you a reading of "Total Dissolved Solids". If you are approaching 2000ppm, it's time to change the water.

Shake a little spa down in it and check later. I agree it was probably shocked and the chlorine (or bromine) will go down on its own. If there's a floating dispenser in the tub remove it.

Might do some reading over at Trouble Free Pools.

I would likely drain and refill it just to start fresh. It was it drained and filled when they serviced it you could get away without draining it. If it's unknown best to start fresh.

The chlorine will burn off and as the water temps increase it will burn off much quicker. Is there a floater with chlorine tabs in it floating in the tub. If so that is keeping the chlorine high.

PH can be lowered with acid or what they call PH down for the consumer hot tubs.

I would also check the filter.

The chemicals can be easily adjusted. Chlorine just burns off. If your unsure of how long the water has been in there or who has used it with that water I would just drain it though and start fresh.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:


Not to insult Jeff but learning a bit first will help a lot. I can get any pool with new water in spec in a day or 2. The only way I see it taking months is if it was tested at a pool store and they told what chemicals to add. You need to learn to test yourself and know how to adjust. It’s not hard but takes some research.

Not a bad idea, learn as you go. my wife learned a lot trying to get the pool going. We are coming off very hard well water so that probably added to the trials as well as learning as she went along. It was definitely a triumphant moment when all the dots lined up. I figured it would be easier to start with a known quantity, but I guess I was wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffxjet:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:


Not to insult Jeff but learning a bit first will help a lot. I can get any pool with new water in spec in a day or 2. The only way I see it taking months is if it was tested at a pool store and they told what chemicals to add. You need to learn to test yourself and know how to adjust. It’s not hard but takes some research.

Not a bad idea, learn as you go. my wife learned a lot trying to get the pool going. We are coming off very hard well water so that probably added to the trials as well as learning as she went along. It was definitely a triumphant moment when all the dots lined up. I figured it would be easier to start with a known quantity, but I guess I was wrong.

You are probably right for a pool that’s thousands of gallons. For a hot tub it’s so much less chemicals it’s not as bad to start from scratch. The trouble free pool site mentioned above is awesome. Oh for your pool they have an app called pool math. Put in your pool info and test results and it tells you what to add.

The app may have a hot tub setting also but I’m not sure.

I'm with Bubba, drain and refill.

Hell, I'd probably refill and chrolinate the shit out of it, run it for a few hours and drain it again!

You don't know what they've been doing in the Hot Tub!

I'd drain and refill, also you want to use Bromine tablets in a SPA, NOT chlorine tablets or Chlorine. Bromine is more stable at high temperatures than Chlorine which just burns off.

After keeping one at 104 degrees for almost 20 years, I got rid of mine and put decking where it was.

I had a Endless Pool SwimSpa installed last year (1200 gal).
I live in Chicago and keep the Spa running year round.
I spent the last year learning how to adjust chemical levels.
As stated earlier in this post, Adjust the PH and alkalinity FIRST, then work on the sanitizer.
I originally used chlorine as a sanitizer, it was a constant battle to keep the level proper. When I drained the tub I replaced the chlorine with bromine, it works MUCH better. I keep my tub at 95 degrees. If I think I will use it I turn the temp up to 101. It takes about 1 hour, per degree, to increase. The hot temps are a problem for the chlorine to deal with, not the bromine.

I would empty the tub and start over.
Have boxes of baking soda and a gal of muratic acid on hand to adjust the ph balance.The products advertised and sold as SPA products for PH balancing will put you in the poor house.
Go with small changes. Buy a jug of bromide tablets (1"), a tablet floater, and a jug of shock. Adjust the sanitizer levels after the PH is set.
Once your dialed in on the PH and the level of bromide to have the dispenser allow, your good to go. keep the floating dispenser filled and check the levels with the strips every few days or once a week.
My tub's ledge is level with my deck. I love going out on the deck at night in the dead of winter and climbing into the 101 degree tub,and gazing at the stars or planes landing at O'hare. Some snow coming down is nice too.