cashews

That's so pleasantly suprising! Thank you for sharing your story. I'm glad your power's back on....and your hot tub is toasty again.

yes. Don't chuck the tub!! Just start over. Read up before you do. A fresh tub of water is like the dawn of a new day.

how about filling the entire tub with bleach? heh heh....and a pipe snake to scour out the plumbing.... I wonder.

I have a Jacuzzi 230. It holds 460 gallons. Wow, I really thought the tub would freeze quickly. Guess not. I *do* have a generator that I could always fire up if need be. Then I could use that lightbulb/hairdryer. I'm hoping we'll avoid the lengthy outages this year. It all depends on Mr. Ice Storm. Thanks for your thoughts...

What do all of you do for an extended power outage? Do you drain your tub after a certain number of hours without power? I don't quite know how long it takes for things to freeze up in a hot tub, but I *do* know we get outages in my area, 2 years ago from an ice storm...FOUR days w/o power!! Anyhow, just trying to be prepared...midwest winters can be brutal.

So true.

Yes, I came to that conclusion after a couple of months with our tub.

As long as your water is balanced, your tub is safe. For instance, if your pH is 7.8, TA is 60 and CH is 200, your tub is well balanced. The problem comes when your TA is low AND your pH is low. Gotcha. I'm one of those that is going to use the bleach method. I'm kind of a slave to the numbers right now, but I'm dedicated to getting it right. So since I'm willing to put in the effort, I think this method is for me. I want my investment to last! Thanks guys.

Will a 50-70 TA harm your heater or anything else on your spa? I swear I read a heater issue for low TA's. BTW, thanks for the good explanation!

Question. I used dichlor at the fresh fill, then switched to bleach. My CYA is about 30. My TA is around 80. From the chart in my Taylor kit, a range of 80-100 is best when using bleach. Is that correct? If that's right, then, isn't your recommendation of a TA of about 60 too low for the dichlor/bleach method? I do experience a upward trend in my pH now and then, but have been dealing with it with pH down. I in turn need TA up now and then. I just thought a TA of 50-60 is way too low according to my Taylor kit. thanks for your thoughts!

You might be able to give a sample of your water to the local health dept. and have them culture it out. That way you'll have confirmation on whether or not you have a bacterial issue. Either way though, I think starting over with fresh water might be a good idea. ETA: We DID have a bacterial issue, my DH had it very badly, my kids only minor, and I had no symptoms of the itch at all. But we most certainly had a bad issue in the water. Decontamination and refill has stopped it.

There are about 20 nasty threads in here right now. Most of them have been there for a couple of days or more. Just sayin'

I'm disappointed the nasty threads aren't getting cleaned up at all....

Yes, that's right! I momentarily forgot Chlorox will not up the CYA. I have to say, I am into my Taylor kit right now...am I geeky??? HA ha ha ha ha....

I did shock it with MPS, and the next day the CC was down to .1ppm. Seems like the Taylor measured it quite well.?.?.? Much more tolerable level at any rate. I was afraid to shock with chlorine because my CYA is at a nice level right now. But I am really practicing measurement with my Taylor kit. Learning alot... I will watch the CC level, as I never was able to see it with the test strips. Thanks!!!!