Parawood

In my tub, it seems to a take 2:1 ratio. ie. 2 cups Borax to 1 cup Muratic Acid as a starting point. I go by volume and convert from there. Good luck. Karl

Trigear, How many tabs were you putting in the floater? I have a 140 gallon tub and only have 1 or 2 tabs added approx once a week. High bather load. I add 1-2 oz bleach after bathing. I have a small floater with vertical lines and a slider. It is open one line. Bromine usually reads between 3-4 ppm. I find I am changing the water every 5-6 weeks probably due to the small size and high load. Parawood

Bart, I order direct from Taylor Technologies. I feel I get the freshest products there. They have been great to deal with. http://www.taylortechnologies.com/home.asp Parawood Keep the shiny side up!

I was just on Comcast's Fansite and noted an interesting article about bulk shopping stores. It stated not to purchase bleach in large quantities as it starts to degrade after six months. Does anyone have any insight to this? Parawood

I buy direct from Taylor. Shipping is fast. Probably the best chance of getting fresh stock. http://www.taylortechnologies.com/home.asp Parawood

Could a compilation of "Gems" be started to collect those little bits of information that make you go "Hmm, I didn't know that. A few recent ones I have come across are: 1. WRI Water replacement Interval Water Replacement Interval (WRI) = (1/3) x (Spa Size in U.S. Gallons) / (Number of Persons Per Day) 2. After using a product such as Seaklear Natural Clarifier, You should clean your filter within 24 hours. Anyone have any other "Gems" to add? Thanks, Parawood

The more you use it, the faster the FC should drop as it oxidizes the bather waste. Parawood

Karl, Yes, the ultimate goal is to use only enough chlorine so you never get to zero and end up with a decent residual before your next soak (or before the next time you add chlorine, if you don't soak often). And yes, it does seem that your ozonator is doing an excellent job of taking care of your bather waste. 3 fluid ounces for 1 hour (for 2 people?) would be 30% of the normally required usage (if you meant per person-hour, then that would be 60% of the normal usage if no ozonator). The 1-1/2 fluid ounces (per day?) when not used is possibly a little higher than it would be for tubs without an ozonator, but that's the small tradeoff where an ozonator works really well when you use the spa regularly. The 100F temp may be helping a little bit and you might not be sweating as much as "average". As for CC, this is a temporary reading and it will depend a lot on when you are measuring it. When you add chlorine after a soak, the chlorine combines almost immediately with the ammonia in your sweat (and urine) to form monochloramine that measures as CC. After that, the chlorine more slowly combines with urea to form monochlorourea (and possibly other chlorourea forms) that also measures as CC. Between these two, if there were no ozonator it would be a very high CC level (perhaps 10 ppm in a small hot tub such as yours, mostly as chlorourea). With a higher chlorine level, the chlorine probably combines with urea more quickly for a higher CC reading sooner. Over the next hours, these compounds get more fully oxidized and the CC drops. If you use a lower amount of chlorine, then less CC is formed initially, but there is likely more urea hanging around. That urea probably gets oxidized by your ozonator before it can combine with chlorine to form CC. The above would explain a higher CC sometime after the soak, but were you measuring higher CC before your next soak when you were using higher chlorine levels? Richard Richard, Generally measure before a soak in the afternoon. Usually been > 12 hours after adding chlorine. Today, FC= 5.5, CC= .2 I had added 3 oz bleach last night after a combined 1 hr soak. Regarding Hrustar's reply above, would there be any benefit to turning the ozonator off when going on a vacation? Thanks again, Karl

Hrustar and Richard, Thanks for the replies. The temp is set at 101F. The example was for adding 6 oz of 6% bleach which would raise the FC by 21ppm according to the Pool Calculator. I guess the ozonator is really doing it's job as I only add 1 1/2 oz if not used and 3oz if used for 1 hr. I generally end up with a FC of 1-2 ppm the next day. I would say we give it fairly heavy use. I have been bothered by the recommendations for using 5 oz per bather/hour in such a small tub. I guess if I can keep a residual of chlorine til the next day, I am fine. I found when using heavier doses, I would get an increased CC reading. Does the higher level of chlorine more readily convert to an increased CC if it is not utilized and burnt off down to a FC of 1 - 2? Thanks, Karl

I have read on this forum the recommendation to use 5-7 oz of bleach per bather/hour regardless of tub size. I am finding this to be way too much. I have a 140 gallon hot tub. It also has an ozonator. Per the Pool Calculator, if I add 6 oz of bleach, it will raise the FC by 21 ppm. I is not unusual for my wife an I to spend 1 1/2 hours under the stars. This would equate to 15 - 21 oz of bleach added after a long soak. Questions: 1. Am I understanding this correctly? 2. How is the ozonator affecting this? 3. Will a high chlorine level contribute to an elevated CC (combined chlorine)? TIA Parawood

Would one be able to place a y connector into 0ne of the jets ( similar to the ozone connector )? A one way valve would need to be used, of course. Also, how would an IV bag and tubing hold up to bleach? Parawood

Don't remember if I dreamed this but I think I remember someone putting the filters in the dishwasher with powdered Cascade. You will have to turn off the heat/dry cycle. Anyone try this? Parawood

I have been wondering if anyone is thinking along my train of thought? How difficult would it be to make a bleach dispenser that would pump in a few ounces of bleach several times during the day, adjustable , of course. The reservoir could be mounted behind the skirt where it would get some of the exposed heat surrounding it to keep it from freezing. The supply line could be T'eed with a one way valve. This would allow a more diverse addition of bleach throughout the day. Anyone have any thoughts? Parawood

Trust the Taylor Kit. Sounds like you are doing it right. Does it read 8.0 or even darker. There's a chance you could have a ph of even higher than 8. BUt, to be safe assume it is 8.0 and continue to adjust until 7.6 or so. I'm surprised you test strips are that far off, but they are. The Taylor Kit is correct. You should also use thepoolcalcualtor.com to enter all of your numbers so you can make all changes. Just looking at ph without considering TA, CYA borates, calcium hardness and water temperature might be part of your problem. Each thing kind of affects the other. Rdefino, How old are the chemicals in your kit? Had the kit been sitting on the shelf for a few years? I buy my testing chemicals directly from the manufacturer so I believe I am getting a fresh supply. Could be part of the cause for the discrepancy. Parawood

Alex, I would think you would want to start with new filters. Too much work to take a chance recontaminating the tub. Parawood

Greg, My statement of "bleach usage of 1 oz/person/hour" was probably not expressed well as this was in addition to the 2 oz of bleach per day I was adding. I am convinced now I was still not using enough and will adjust bleach usage upward. Bear with me. I appreciate all the comments. Parawood

First, always add Chlorine after you soak. Being a small tub it will get used up faster. Remember, it takes the same volume of Chlorine (not ppm) to oxidizer bather waste regardless of the tub size. That means you should be adding the same amount of bleach I had to my 350 gal tub after soaks. Second, never let your FC drop to zero. See above! Third, what Sea Klear are you using, non-chlorine shock (aka MPS)? I was referring to the Clarifier. Lastly, why would you use Dichlor once a week, if your using the Dichlor/Bleach method? Dichlor is only need on a fresh fill to build up CYA. After that you use Chlorox Bleach as your Chlorine source. Yes, I would give it a heavy shock. One full cup Bleach and 1 oz MPS (non-chlorine shock). The clarifier (by Sea Klear) is optional, but can't hurt. Nitro, I am still new to this and feeling my way through. I got my products mixed up. I meant to say I am using the MPS once a week for shocking. I have both products. With the Sea Klear, I am using the clarifier product. I am beginning to feel like I have a better understanding now about chlorine need regarding bather waste vs ppm. I will see how it does over the next couple days as I am off from work. Thanks again for your help. Parawood

Sounds like you have sluggish water. Although it shouldn't be after only 5 weeks, unless you started with very high TDS. You have well water by chance? It could be you're not using enough Chlorine. Try giving it a good shock. Add an ounce of MPS and a cup of bleach. That should catch you up. You can also try a clarifier such as Sea Klear. Drop in an ounce. You may need to wait a few days for your FC to drop below 10 ppm before using it. But if your FC is below 10 ppm after 24 hours, add another ounce of MPS and cup of bleach. Lastly, have you been keeping your filter clean? If you add Sea Klear, make sure to clean your filter the next day. Oops, after I typed the above I missed that you wrote you're using 1 oz/person/hour. Are you talking about bleach, or Dichlor? If you're talking about bleach, that's probably not enough. Read my link below about Chlorine Demand (CD), and check it. Also, check your Combined Chlorine (CC) just for yucks. Nitro, Thanks for the fast reply. City water. I had shocked it a few days ago and had an FC of 11ppm after 24 hrs. Wife and I got in for a half hour. Figured it was still high chlorine, so didn't add any. Next day was down to 0 FC. Added 1/2 cup Chlorox and some Sea Klear (did not know about cleaning filter within 24 hours). I use dichlor (1 tbsp) weekly for shocking purpose. This is a small tub (140 gal). I cleaned the filter with the hose yesterday. It did not look bad, nothing like when using the Clearblue. Would you recommend I still go with the heavy shock? Could the Sea Klear have caused this? Parawood

Nitro, New this summer. I started with the clearblue copper system. Ended up draining it and refilling it twice. I sanitized it with high diclor prior to starting with your system. It has been about 5 weeks with almost daily usage. Parawood

Hi All, First post. Approx 5 weeks ago, I began using Nitro's approach to managing my spa. My numbers are good but I get a white opaque color when the jets are on. This seems to be getting more opaque with time. The water is clear after approx 2 minutes of rest. I use the Taylor 2006 to test my water. My spa is a small two person model holding 140 gallons. FC 5.6 pH 7.5 TA 50 CH 150 CYA 35 My CD is approx 2 oz/day Soaking uses approx 1 oz / person/hr. Any insights into this? Parawood