Non-chlorine Shock And Cloudy Water/foam And Chlorine Demand Question.

[seabright_sc]

I've ordered a Taylor test kit, but until then, I've been using strips.

Ph seems to be in check along with alk.

300 gallon HS tub, no ozone

I've been adding about a teaspoon spoon of dichlor after each soak. Water seems clear and fine. Although I notice that when I test 24 hours later, strips read 0 or close to it for chlorine. But when I add much more than a teaspoon, the reading is super high (above 10ppm), it drops so maybe that amount is ok and I should be adding more than a teaspoon after each use.

Thoughts?

Now the non-chlorine shock question. I've added this twice (after about a week of daily use) and after adding it (per instructions, based on 1 oz. for 600 gallons), the water turns very cloudy with foam (foam while jets are on only). Last time this cleared up after a 2 or three days. It's still cloudy after two days of shocking and we'll see if it clears.

I know that the Taylor kit will get me rolling in the right directions. I may go for the Chlorine then bleach method. But for the time being what gives?

How much diclor should be added (approx.) to a 300 gallon tub being used by 2 adults for about 45 min. a day? Is it normal to add more than 10ppm so that the level for next use will be in the suggested use range of 3-5ppm? I thought 10ppm+ was only for your weekly shock.

How about the cloudy water after non-chlorine shock?

Thanks for the guidance.

[chem geek]

2 adults for 45 minutes is 1.5 person-hours of soaking which would normally require around 5-1/4 teaspoons of Dichlor or 7.5 fluid ounces of 6% bleach or 10.5 teaspoons of non-chlorine shock (43% MPS) to oxidize the bather waste and have a residual for the next day's soak. Your one teaspoon of Dichlor after each soak is woefully inadequate. It is true that if you add the quantities of chlorine indicated that the FC level will go way up right after the soak, but then as you've noted it will come back down. That is normal. If you do things correctly using enough chlorine after each soak, you should not need to shock if you use the Dichlor-then-bleach method; with Dichlor-only then the water could get cloudy after a while and you may need to shock with MPS.

You can start with these amounts and then adjust as needed so that you measure 1-2 ppm FC just before your soak. Obviously you need a better test kit to do this with reasonable accuracy.

I don't know why the MPS in your situation is making your water cloudy.

[seabright_sc]

2 adults for 45 minutes is 1.5 person-hours of soaking which would normally require around 5-1/4 teaspoons of Dichlor or 7.5 fluid ounces of 6% bleach or 10.5 teaspoons of non-chlorine shock (43% MPS) to oxidize the bather waste and have a residual for the next day's soak. Your one teaspoon of Dichlor after each soak is woefully inadequate. It is true that if you add the quantities of chlorine indicated that the FC level will go way up right after the soak, but then as you've noted it will come back down. That is normal. If you do things correctly using enough chlorine after each soak, you should not need to shock if you use the Dichlor-then-bleach method; with Dichlor-only then the water could get cloudy after a while and you may need to shock with MPS.

You can start with these amounts and then adjust as needed so that you measure 1-2 ppm FC just before your soak. Obviously you need a better test kit to do this with reasonable accuracy.

I don't know why the MPS in your situation is making your water cloudy.

Whoa! Good to know! I was simply estimating by the recommended amounts that were listed on the owner's manual. Thanks!

[chem geek]

If you switch from Dichlor-only to using the Dichlor-then-bleach method, then read Nitro's Approach to Water Maintenance and note that for pH stability you will need the TA lower (< 80 ppm; usually 50-60 ppm) and have 50 ppm Borates (especially needed in your case due to the higher bather load to reduce the pH swings).

[NewB@Spa]

Agree wholeheartedly with chem...I switched over to the Dichlor/Bleach method as set forth by Nitro and it is a blessing. No more worrying about CYA increases and now that I have my pH stable (at ~7.5) I am good to go! All I do is add 6% bleach (amount dependent on bather load) after a soak. If I do not soak on a particular night I still hit it with an oz or two because I am learning that an ozonator eats up Chlorine if the tub goes unused.

[seabright_sc]

Agree wholeheartedly with chem...I switched over to the Dichlor/Bleach method as set forth by Nitro and it is a blessing. No more worrying about CYA increases and now that I have my pH stable (at ~7.5) I am good to go! All I do is add 6% bleach (amount dependent on bather load) after a soak. If I do not soak on a particular night I still hit it with an oz or two because I am learning that an ozonator eats up Chlorine if the tub goes unused.

Lots of good info and I have another question. Yep, looks like I need to add more dichlor on a daily basis. And once I receive test kit in the mail, I may switch to bleach method. But for the time being if I do ass about 5+ teaspoons of dichlor after each use, the ppm shoots up above 10, then drops for next use.

Question... How is that different from Shocking? I thought shocking was raising the levels to above 10 and should be done about one or twice per week. Can someone help me understand this?

Thanks!

[NewB@Spa]

I am not certain, but I think you are going to have to wait for a refill to do the Dichlor/Bleach method. Your CYA count is probably too high

[chem geek]

Question... How is that different from Shocking? I thought shocking was raising the levels to above 10 and should be done about one or twice per week. Can someone help me understand this?

If you properly maintain enough chlorine at all times, including adding enough to handle the bather load, then there is usually no need for shocking. Shocking is usually done precisely because people don't use enough chlorine so their water goes bad with higher and higher chlorine demand and the water quality getting worse. Shocking then just tries to "catch up" to what really should have just been more chlorine being used on an ongoing basis. Using too little chlorine during the week and then shocking once a week isn't a great way of maintaining a tub since the chlorine will often get close to zero at some point after each soak during the week.

You aren't adding more chlorine after your soak for the purpose of having the FC get high as for shocking, though that is a side effect in your situation because of your higher bather load. The reason you need to add more chlorine after your soak is because your soaks are with 2 people and soaking for longer than average and in a residential spa that isn't large (it's not small, but most residential spas have fairly high bather loads unless it's just 1 person soaking for 20-30 minutes or 2 people soaking for 15 minutes).