Before getting into how much and when, it is important to understand some of the terminology that is used to describe how the chemicals are applied:
P.P.M. – Parts Per Million. Expressed as a ratio of number out of 1 million.
SHOCK – Addition of an oxidizer (“Oxy-Shock”) or superchlorinator to the water to break-down the organic contaminates on which bacteria feed and to destroy ammonia and nitrogen compounds (oxidize only).
SUPERCHLORINATION – Means the addition of enough chlorine in the water to kill all living things (sanitize) and destroy any organic wastes present in the water (oxidize). Usually this means about double your normal dose of chlorine. Superchlorination can be done once a day for heavy bather loads or as infrequent as once a week for a moderately used spa.
CHLORINATION – To add chlorine to your spa on a regular basis to disinfect and oxidize your spa water.
BREAK POINT CHLORINATION – The process of shocking the water withs ignificant quantities of chlorine to oxidize all contaminants and organic wastes and leave all remaining chlorine as free chlorine.
CALCIUM HARDNESS – A measure of the amount of calcium dissolved in water. Water with low hardness can lead to corrosion of metal parts. Water with high level of hardness can cause scale (calcium crust) build up on spa surfaces which can clog filters, heaters and pumps.
WATER BALANCE – Water balance is reached when all elements (pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness and total dissolved solids) are within their proper ranges.
ENZYMES – Biodegradable proteins which breakdown oils, films and digest scum in spa water.
FREE CHLORINE – The amount of chlorine available to kill bacteria or algae. Also known as “Available Chlorine”.
COMBINED CHLORINE – The portion of the total chlorine in water in chemical combination with ammonia, organics, and nitrogen, most of which are chloramines.
TOTAL ALKALINITY (TA) – The measure in PPM of all the dissolved base/alkaline material in the water. The acid-neutralizing capacity of water which in-dicates its buffering ability, or resistance to fluctuations in pH.
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS (TDS) – The total amount of dissolved materials in spa water. The ideal range is 1,500 ppm above the start-up TDS in spas.