My spa was working fine for months, then started developing foam
and the water became cloudy. We drained the tub, cleaned the filter,
refilled the tub, and added chemicals (and had the water tested), but
the problem presisted. We added foam control, and bought a new filter at the advice of the spa store (after they inspected my old one) , this stopped the foam, but we still had filmy deposits on the surface of the water after running the jets and the water was still cloudy. We then added a water clarifier, which did not make much difference.

So we finally decided to drain the tub, clean it and start again. Right after
adding the water, I noticed lots of small whitish looking debris in the water.
Looks like it might be comming out of the jets.

I ran the filter for about 5 hours and the water looked very clear. I checked the filter which was pretty dirty already, so I cleaned it and out
and put it back in. I then ran the jets for about 5 mintues and when I turned the jets off, the water was cloudy again and the filmy substance
was on the surface of the water again.

Is it possible there is some film in the water pipes in my tub? How would I go about cleaning these out?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

BTW - The tub is a 10 year old cal spa's tub and has been on Baqua Spa
its whole life.

I HAVE NOT HAD A TUB THAT LONG BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE ENTERING THE PIPES AND FLOWING INTO YOUR TUB. IT IS A CLOSED SYSTEM. THE ONLY INTAKE IS FROM THE PUMP COMING ON AND DRAWING AIR INTO THE TUB FROM THE OZONATOR. THIS CONNECTION COULD EASILY BECOME DETERIOATED WITH AGE (THAT'S IF U HAVE ONE) IF THERE IS FILM ON THE SURFACE THEN I WOULD GUESTIMATE THAT IT IS RESIDUE FROM SOME TYPE OF CHEMICAL REACTION NOT BREAKING DOWN. HAVE YOU STARTED USING ANY OF THE OIL BASED FRAGRANCES?
SOUNDS LIKE YOU'VE HAVE THE TUB A LONG TIME SO I'M SURE YOUR USING SPA SHOCK ETC. TO BREAK DOWN RESIDUE'S? RIGHT?
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IF YOU HAVE AN OZONATOR IT'S NO LONGER WORKING (BULB OUT OR WEAK ) AND THE CHEMICAL AMOUNTS YOU HAVE BEEN USING ARE NO LONGER EFFECTIVE.
U CAN ALWAYS ADD AND OZONATOR FOR AROUND $110 BUCKS.
BUY THE CD OZONATOR (COMPUTOR CHIP) AND NOT A BULB BASED UNIT. I KNOW BECAUSE I BOUGHT A 6 YEAR OLD TUB AND THE WATER QAULITY STUNK BEFORE I PUT IN THE DEL CD OZONATOR AND NOW MY WATER IS CRYSTAL CLEAR....... HOPE THIS HELPS......

AFTER READING YOUR SITUATION OVER AGAIN IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IF YOUR NOT THE ORIGIONAL OWNER AND HAVE BOUGHT THE TUB USED SOMEONE REPAIRED A JET OR TWO BY USING CAULKING. IF THE CAULKING WAS NOT INTENTED TO BE USED BELOW THE WATER LINE THEN IT WOULD EVENTUALLY BREAK UP AND COME OUT IN SMALL WHITE PIECES. THIS WOULD ALSO LEAVE A RESIDUAL OF SILICONE ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. IT WOULD DEFINATELY CLOUD THE WATER.

I am just wondering if you resolved your water issue?? I have about the same issue and am getting very frustrated with it.. it seems fine til I add the jets and air then a white could begins.. thanks .. amber

Maybe I can help "clear" things up a bit.

A CD ozonator is not "computer chip" driven, CD stands for Corona Discharge, in other words, a spark. Ozone is that fresh smell you can sense after a lightning strike. Same effect.

Ozone alone will not clear your water. Nor will a dead, dying, or defective ozonator cause any cloudiness. Ozone only breakes down bacterial buildup for sanitizing. It works with your chemicals.

Silicone also will not break down in water and cause a filming. Silicone is anhydrous, meaning it absorbs water.

If you see a white particulate matter in the tub, see if you can get a larger piece and see if it crumbles into a chalky residue. If so, it's calcium buildup. The only way to remove this is to dissolve it in an acidic solution. The easiest way to do this is to add Muratic Acid at the level of a cup of acid to every 50 gallons of water capacity. Have the tub hot, and circulate the water for several hours continuously. Then you will have to drain the tub and refill with fresh water. If the problem persists, but is lessened, you may have to repeat this process. You may have to drain and refill the tub a couple times to flush out the high acidic content.

If you used Baquaspa all it's life, you could very well have a calcium buildup. Especially if you haven't kept the ph balance at or below 7 at all times. Any time you run a high alkalinity you will be prone to calcium buildup.

Another possible cause is body oils, soaps, lotions, perfumes, etc. on your body. The easiest way to eliminate this as a cause is to completely drain and fill the tub, balance the water chemistry, and not use it for a few days, keeping the chemistry in balance the whole time. If the water remains clear during this time, the problem lies on our body (sounds gross, but it is a VERY common problem). The only way around this is to do a shower rinse before entering the tub. Have you changed soaps, shampoo's, or any other styling products about the time the cloudiness appeared? Might be a place to start.

CLOTHING! You would be surprised how laundry soaps in your bathing suits can reak havoc on your water chemistry. As a rule in my house, all bathing suits need to be washed in clear hot water followed by a cold rinse before use, and as for my own personal suits, I simply wash them in HOT water after each use and hang to dry. No chance of laundry chemicals that way.

Hope this gives you some direction. My personal opinion is switch your chemical to either bromine or chlorine, and get away from the "natural" bacquaspa. I don't personally trust or like that chemical idea.

I myself recently switched to the Bromine.. I did a clean fill on March 2nd.. used Sentry to stablize the water.. I have been having a water sample done on a regular basis.. but I have just about had enough.. it looks nice UNTIL you put the jets and air on.. then the cloudiness starts.. I am just sick about this and the money I have spent to straighted it out... grrrrrrrrr