I took a sample to the dealer for testing after a clean and refill... (well water/500 gal) I knew the pH was a little high- I used a little too much pH UP during refill and it went to 8.2. Got the Bromine correct at 3.0 (using MPS shock and Sodium Bromide gran), but my well water is soft and showed 40ppm on their test. So they told me to add 2oz of pH Down and one 32 oz bottle of Calcium Hardness Increaser on two consecutive days....

Now after adding the calcium the pH went down to 6.6 and the water looks like milk! So i have had to add more than twice as much pH UP to get it back to 7.5, Brom is ok at 2.7 but i haven't been back to the dealer for another hardeness test yet. I can feel the calcium on my hands from working in it... since I was used to the feeling of the soft water already, is this normal? Will the calcium clouding dissipate and clear up the water on it's own? or did they tell me to add too much? the directions on the bottle say it raises hardness 7ppm per oz in a 500 gal spa, so it should be 7ppm x 32 oz=224ppm plus the original 40ppm giving a total of 264ppm Hardness. The range on the bottle says 150-400 ppm is acceptable. Not being able to see the bottom is not acceptable! And they did not mention it would lower the pH from 8.2 to 6.6!!!

They also told me to fill it, keep the heater off, add pH Anchor, adjust the pH up (acidic well water), don't worry about high TA- 'there's nothing you can do about it'. Then turn on heat and circulate. Then to shock it with MPS and add sodium bromide granules. First I woulda thought to adjust the pH THEN use pH Anchor... and from reading this forum I understand that you can raise the pH without raising TA. They told me it was "impossible". I took that as a challenge...

Wow. The first thing I would suggest is getting a good test kit so you don't have to deal with those bozos again. The Taylor K-2106 is the one you want for bromine.

You can lower TA and you can increase pH without bringing TA up. In fact, when you use Sodium Bicarb to bring TA up, your pH doesn't go up much anyway. Regular Borax will bring your pH up without significant TA increases. Sodium Carbonate will bring both up. Acid will bring both TA and pH down. Aeration will bring TA down and pH up.

The first issue with the calcium is that your spa is probably not 500 gallons. Many manufacturers will give you a size based on the volume of the rectangular prism your spa occupies, despite the fact that a good amount of that volume does not have water in it. I'd guess the 32 oz added more like 350 ppm. The only real benefit you get from having calcium in a spa is less foaming, and for that you're only looking at needing 150ppm or so, so I'd suggest at least a partial drain. Having it that high will cause it to precipitate around your heater and could lead to some scaling problems. But before you drain it, get a reading and see how much was added so you'll have a better idea of your actual volume next time.

The other issue is most pH stabilizers purge calcium from the water when you add them. I'm assuming you put that stuff in after the calcium? That was just a bad combination of products to recommend. And yes, you should have the pH in range before you add it.

The calcium should not have changed your pH that much, but the monopersulfate could have. It has a very low pH. Combined with the pH decreaser you already had to add that might have been what did it.

Thanks, i'll look into getting that Taylor kit.

As for the calcium, it was so much that the liquid turned into flakes in the water! I opened the filter well lid and saw some white specks, so i got a flashlight and couldnt believe it- it looked like snow. So i took one out and it was so clogged with calcium i had to scrape it off before washing the filter out. then i had to pull the rest and clean them. in the six hours since i did that and reinstalled them the water has cleared up. tested again with this silly Aquachek digital tester (inconsistent bugger) and the test results and it showed chlorine ok, but pH 6.7 and TA 167. the pH is what is concerning me so i added pH Up and retest showed 7.6. finally! and somehow the TA shows 153 now... time for that Taylor kit. poor testing is driving me nuts! I got alot of calcium, but it still has a little foam- same amount as when i was using just soft water. weird. taking a sample to a better spa store tomorrow to get the right results.

I put the pH anchor in first, two days before the 'calcium incident'... (pH Up, MPS and Brom gran were added that same day) that's what the wife is calling it since she saw me cleaning the filters again and the tub was full of milk!

As for the pH anchor, I thought so. I wouldnt throw a boat anchor in the water until i stopped where i wanted to be! So now I'm taking notes so I don't make the same mistakes twice.

I am gonna partial drain it after the big winter storm headed this way passes. Predicting 1-4 inches by tomorrow afternoon. Weather channel says it's gonna be in the 50's again next week though.

Thanks for the reply and the help!

No problem. I'll see if I can get you a better answer on how that pH buffer business relates to your calcium.

So the issue with the pH buffer is that it is a phosphate product. It loads your water with phosphates which is something you'd never do in a pool, but is ok in a spa since it's usually covered and algae doesn't stand a great chance of growing to begin with.

When you add calcium to the water you create calcium phosphate, which is difficult to dissolve and what ends up floating around in your tub. There's no reason you should have been sold those two products together. It doesn't matter in what order you put them in, you form calcium phosphate.

If you run into any other chemistry issues, I'd suggest also posting over at trouble free pool. The forum is much more chemically involved.