🛁 Chlorine Spa Start-Up & Weekly Maintenance Guide

Start your spa off right with balanced, comfortable water — and keep it that way all season long with our simple, step-by-step care plan. If you have an Arctic Spa with Spa Boy or Onzen, please visit our Salt Spa Start-Up & Weekly Maintenance Guide.

Before you start:

• Ensure the electrical connections have been made in accordance with the owners manual.
• Before filling your spa, test your source water at Premier Pool & Spa. If calcium is above 200 ppm, fill partially with soft water from inside your home.

🔄 Start-Up Procedure

Once the spa is filled and heated to at least 85°F, test your water:

🧾 Step 1: Soften Your Water

1. Check your Calcium (or Total) Hardness

• Ideal Calcium Hardness Range: 100-200 ppm
• If Calcium is too low, add Calcium Hardness Increaser.
• If calcium is too high, add Stain & Scale Control to your weekly maintenance routine to prevent white calcium build up in equipment and on the spa surface. 
  • There is no way to remove the calcium outside of adding more water with a lower calcium level, so when you need to add water to the spa, consider adding it from a source that goes through your water softener (inside the house). 
    

⚖️ Step 2: Balance Total Alkalinity & pH

• Ideal Alkalinity: 40–120 ppm
• Ideal pH: 7.2–7.8

If pH or Alkalinity is too high:

• Turn on all pumps and open one air diverter.

• Add 1 cup of Spa Down or Spa pH Decreaser.

• Wait 30 minutes, test again, and re-dose if needed.

• If alkalinity is within range but pH remains high, continue adding 1/4 cup Spa Down every 30 minutes until it stabilizes.

💡 Most customers use 3-4 bottles of Spa Down on a fresh fill.

If Alkalinity is too low:

• Add 1/4 cup of Alkalinity Increaser

If pH is too low:

• Add 2 tbsp of pH Increaser

Or top off the spa with fresh water to raise both pH & alkalinity levels slightly.

3. Lock in Your Alkalinity

• Once both pH and alkalinity are in range after 3 consistent test results, add:

  • 1 bottle of Simply Soft

Simply Soft will:

• Lock in your alkalinity
• Stabilize pH
• Soften water
• Improve water clarity and bather comfort
• Reduce skin & eye irritation
• Prevent scale formation

🧪 Step 4: Establish Sanitizer Levels (FCl)

(Free Chlorine or Bromine)

• With the pumps running, add 1/4 cup of Chlorine Concentrate

  • Aim for an FCl reading of 1–5 ppm

• Test with strips or bring a sample to Premier Pool & Spa for confirmation

• Leave the cover off for 30 minutes after adding chlorine or shock
  🔄 This allows oxidized contaminants to escape the water properly.

📆 Weekly Spa Maintenance

1. Test & Adjust pH and Alkalinity
   Use tbsp or tsp doses of increaser or decreaser as needed.

2. Test Chlorine or Bromine

   • If below 1 ppm, add 1/4 cup of Chlorine Concentrate

3. Add Weekly Maintenance Products (if needed):

   • Enzymes

   • Stain & Scale Control

   • Unique Clarifier

   • Water Clarifier

   • Scum Balls (for oily water)

     • These reusable floaters absorb 40x their weight in oils & lotions

     • Replace or clean after 30 days or when saturated

4. Shock After Heavy Use

   • Add 1/4 cup of shock

   • Leave cover open for 30 minutes to off-gas contaminants

   • Recommended after every other use, or immediately after large groups or long soaks

💡 Pro Tips:

• Regular testing = better water, longer equipment life, and less chemical waste

• Visit us anytime with a water sample — we’ll test and guide you, free of charge

• Shop all your spa needs online at premierpools.com

Need help getting started?
📞 Contact us or stop by your nearest Premier Pool & Spa showroom. Our team is happy to help!