Hi, I recently bought a Spa and I'm having problems getting the water balance right.

My Alkalinity reads 180 and PH 8.4 (or higher?). Since filling I have added approx 500g of Guardex PH reducer in increments of about 50g, but the levels remain high.

Our water is Calcium hard and tests at 800+, and the Spa is fitted with an ozonator.

Should I keep adding the PH reducer until the levels come down?
Is half a Kilogram of PH reducer excessive?

I had a similar problem with my spa- after finding out my water was very hard I was told to add about 2 cups of stain and scale (approx 400 gallon tub)to decrease the hardness-this made everything else easier. Before this my water was brown also. I use a nature two cartridge system.

I have had the same problems lately. We have pretty hard water. My water was clear after filling. PH was a little low, 7.3 or 7.4 at first. Alk was normal for our area, around 90. I added 1 tsp of Dichlor to the 400 gallons of well water and it yellowed a little. PH was okay and chlorine was a little low. Adding 1 Tbsp MPS a day later to begin using only MPS as Nature2 advised, turned my water golden brown. Now my PH and Alk are off the charts high. Adding PH Minus has had little effect after two days at one once per day.

I was told that the Dichlor and/or MPS oxidized the metals in the water; this caused the discoloration. Doesn't explain the high PH and Alk readings, though, does it? Anyone have any advice?