The Golden Rule: always balance before you sanitize, and always test before you add anything.
Water care has two sides. Balancing gets the chemistry of the water itself right. Sanitizing keeps it clean and free of bacteria. A spa that's out of balance will fight every sanitizer you put into it — that's why balance always comes first.
Why alkalinity first? Total Alkalinity acts as a buffer for pH — it's what keeps pH from swinging wildly every time something enters the water. Low alkalinity means pH will bounce around unpredictably no matter how carefully you adjust it. Fix alkalinity first and pH becomes far easier to hold steady.
Balance, in this order
Total Alkalinity — target 100–120 ppm (ideal ~120 ppm; 125–150 ppm on a fresh refill)
pH — ideal 7.4–7.6, acceptable 7.2–7.8. Never add more than 3 capfuls (~4 tsp) of pH adjuster per 250 gallons at once.
Calcium Hardness — target 150–200 ppm (100–200 ppm acceptable). Protects the spa surface and equipment from scale or corrosion.
Then sanitize — with the brand you chose at purchase
Bromine tablets (2–4 ppm, floating dispenser) — gentler, stable at high heat, preferred for covered/indoor spas.
Brominating Concentrate (3–6 ppm) — fast-dissolving, good for startup or quick adjustment.
Chlorinating Concentrate (3–5 ppm free chlorine) — fast-acting, cost-effective, recovers quickly after heavy use.
One important thing about your test strips: every strip reads for both bromine and chlorine, but you're only using one of them. If you're on bromine, ignore the chlorine pad entirely — and vice versa if you're on chlorine. Reading the wrong pad is a common source of confusion.
Test before every soak
Never dose by guessing — test first, adjust slowly, retest.
Light use (2–3x/week): test every few days.
Heavy or daily use: test more often.
After a big bather load: test and shock right away.
About foam — and why it happens
Foam isn't a sign of unsafe water — it's almost always lotion, shampoo, deodorant, body wash, or sunscreen residue on your skin washing off into the water and turning into suds. The fix is prevention: rinse off before you get in, and keep a swimsuit that's used only for the hot tub. Run it through your washing machine's rinse cycle (not a full wash — just rinse) once or twice before its first use, to flush out any leftover laundry detergent that would otherwise wash straight into your water.
Chemical safety
Never mix chemicals together before adding — add each separately, always to water (not water to chemicals), store tightly closed in a cool dry spot away from kids and pets, wear gloves/eyewear as directed on the label.
Quick fixes: cloudy water → test, balance, shock, rinse filter. Scale → lower pH.
Full technical detail: Vita Spa Owner's Manual / American Whirlpool Owner's Manual