Do Not Dive.
19
WATER CHEMISTRY TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Before jumping into the Swim Spa Water Maintenance, here are some terms to help you.
1.
Parts per million,
or ppm:
This is a form of measurement used in most pool
or
swim
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:
This is a measurement of the ability of the water to resist
changes in pH.
Put another way,
it is the water’s ability to maintain proper
pH.
Total alkalinity is measured in parts per million from 0 to 400 plus,
with
80 to 120 ppm being the best range for swim spas.
With low alkalinity,
the
pH will flip,
or change back and forth,
and be hard to control.
With high
alkalinity it becomes extremely difficult to change the pH.
3.
pH or potential hydrogen:
This is a measurement of the active acidity in the
water,
or it is the measurement of the concentration of active hydrogen ions
in the water.
The greater the concentration of active hydrogen ions,
the lower
the pH.
pH is not measured in parts per million,
but on a scale from 0 to 14,
with 7 being the neutral.
In spas when ever possible,
a measurement between
7.2 and 7.8 is best.
Whenever possible,
it should be between 7.4 and 7.6.
With low pH,
the results can be corroded metals,
etched and stained plaster,
stained fiberglass or acrylic,
eye / skin irritation,
rapid chlorine or bromine
loss,
and total alkalinity destruction.
With high pH,
the results can be cloudy
water,
eye / skin irritation,
scale formation and poor chlorine or bromine
efficiency.
4.
Shocking:
This is when you add either extra chlorine (superchlorinate) by
raising the chlorine level above 8 ppm,
or add a non-chlorine shock
(potassium monoperoxysulfate or potassium monopersulfate) to burn off
the
chloramines or bromamines.
A non-chlorine shock acts by releasing
oxygen in
the water,
which serves the same function as chlorine.
The
advantage to using
non-chlorine shock,
is you can enter the water within 15
minutes after
shocking.
Using chlorine,
you must wait until the total chlorine
reading is
below 5 ppm.
One thing to remember,
a non-chlorine shock will
not kill
bacteria or disinfect.
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).
Common names for sequestering chemicals are;
minquest,
stain and scale control,
metal-x,
spa defender,
spa metal gone,
(etc.).
07MS H2X Owners Manual 1/10/07 11:29 PM Page 19
