Therapy Pool - What Chemistry - Pool Or Hot Tub?

[Liz Pool]

We have recently ordered a therapy pool (7' x 7' x 54' vinyl) for our daughter who has cerebral palsy. Reading the information on the internet and this forum, we are confused which chemistry we fit into. Is it a pool or a hot tub? The spas seem to have water volume limits around 600 gals and the pools are 10,000+gals. Our therapy tub/pool holds 1500 gals of water and we will heat it to body temperature, ie 97-98 deg F. There are no jets, just suction and return lines. We are putting it in an insulated garage that never fails below freezing on concrete.

We have ordered a Waterway 1/8 HP circulation pump (30GPM) with a 25 sq ft cartridge filter and a raypak electric heater 5.5KW.

We will use it daily, 2-3 people to support her in the pool, she cannot stand but benefits from the hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy and warmth. We would like to use minimum chemicals since we will be using it daily. All suggestions welcome.

[mgrobins]

We have recently ordered a therapy pool (7' x 7' x 54' vinyl) for our daughter who has cerebral palsy. Reading the information on the internet and this forum, we are confused which chemistry we fit into. Is it a pool or a hot tub? The spas seem to have water volume limits around 600 gals and the pools are 10,000+gals. Our therapy tub/pool holds 1500 gals of water and we will heat it to body temperature, ie 97-98 deg F. There are no jets, just suction and return lines. We are putting it in an insulated garage that never fails below freezing on concrete.

We have ordered a Waterway 1/8 HP circulation pump (30GPM) with a 25 sq ft cartridge filter and a raypak electric heater 5.5KW.

We will use it daily, 2-3 people to support her in the pool, she cannot stand but benefits from the hydrostatic pressure, buoyancy and warmth. We would like to use minimum chemicals since we will be using it daily. All suggestions welcome.

Hi,

We have a hydro pool at the hospital I work in (it's a smallish one though bigger than what you describe) I can ask them how they care for it if I can find the person who takes care of it.

I think with the temp you will be running it will be important to maintain your sanitizer levels as it's likely to encourage more bacterial growth - especially if you have no connected ozonator or salt water chlorinator. Being vinyl it may be good to get some advice about what chemicals and levels are appropriate so as not to cause deterioration.

Given that it is inside and the above factors I would guess you could look after it like a spa. Not having jets and a different usage pattern it may actually be easier to maintain and perhaps not require some of the additives people put in their spa such as borates???.

If I find out anything useful I'll post it here.

What do the manufacturers suggest?

[PaulR]

I'm inclined to agree, especially being an indoor pool, I'd say handle it like an oversize spa with the dichlor-then-bleach method.

Dichlor/bleach method in a nutshell

For a 1500 gallon tub, use dichlor as your chlorine source until you've used up 1/2 lb of dichlor; that will bring your stabilizer (CYA) to about 20ppm, which is plenty for an indoor pool. After that, switch to plain unscented bleach. I'd say shoot for 1-2ppm chlorine at the start of a session, and add bleach after a session; chem geek recommends 5 oz of 6% bleach per person-hour in the tub.

You'll want reasonable ventilation in the tub room to handle the humidity, and I'd guess that would also take care of any residual chlorine smell.

--paulr

[chem geek]

Since the water temp isn't quite so hot as a usual hot tub (104ºF), the chlorine requirement may be lower at perhaps 3-4 fluid ounces of 6% bleach per person-hour, but one can just see how much it takes to retain a residual 1-2 ppm FC amount of chlorine by the next time the therapy pool is used assuming it is used nearly every day.

[quantumchromodynamics]

Nitro's Approach to Water Maintenance

Also, get the Taylor K-2006 test kit.

[footie]

As a parent of a 'special' child I have a few personal questions and advice that I hope doesn't offend.

Does your daughter have bowl and bladder problems, i.e. leaky bladder and possible soiling because having a son with spina-bifida I know accidents do happen, especially so with raised water temperatures. If so then you might need to use slightly more chlorine bleach.

Also I would recommend asking your therapy pool supplier if they know of somewhere that you can get full tests done on a regular basis (every 6 months) to test for e-coli and other possible harmful things that regular testing don't do. Another thing, if you do get a No2 accident that isn't firm you must drain the pool, replace filters and start again, don't think extra bleach will fix it because it won't.

[Liz Pool]

Thanks to all who posted replys! It is a little overwhelming to absorb all that must be learned to manage the therapy pool environment.

Our goal was to use as few chemicals as possible since Liz would be in the pool everyday. We have read the previous forum posts regarding mineral bacteria control but it requires the use of a sanitizer anyway. Same thing as with an ozonator. So we will try the chlorine method suggested.

We have ordered the K2006 test kit and will get some Dichlor from the local supply store (Chicago area). We tested the tap water with test strips and can see that they are not very accurate.

We picked out a pump/filter package that will filter 30GPM. Now we are looking at electric heaters and two seem like good choices.

Raypak 11022 11KW and Hayward CSPAXI11 11KW. Both will require 240VAC, 60 AMP circuit. Raypak is about $75 more. Any suggestions welcome.

When the pool arrives, we will need to cut round openings for the suction and drain fittings. We are curious what is the best height for the return/drain line? There are NO jets, just the two lines to and from the pump/filter/heater. Would more than one return line, e.g. one close to the bottom and one about half way up be better?

The cover we ordered is a bubble pack type we plan to attach to a sheet of ridgid insulation and lay the bubble pack side against the water. The thought here is to keep the cover in place to reduce heat loss. More insulation on top of the pool and sides may be necessary as the weather cools even though the garage(faces South) is insulated, R40 ceiling, R22 walls, and R8 doors.

We are also working on an entry/exit system that will be safe for carrying Liz in and out of the pool.

A lot to think about!

P.S. To footie. After 30 years with a CP child nothing offends us anymore. Liz has a number of serious motor problems that prevent her from speaking, walking, standing or sitting without support but so far she has excellent bowl/bladder control. Her muscle spasms are reduced with the warm water pool.

[oldparr]

Thanks to all who posted replys! It is a little overwhelming to absorb all that must be learned to manage the therapy pool environment.

Our goal was to use as few chemicals as possible since Liz would be in the pool everyday. We have read the previous forum posts regarding mineral bacteria control but it requires the use of a sanitizer anyway. Same thing as with an ozonator. So we will try the chlorine method suggested.

We have ordered the K2006 test kit and will get some Dichlor from the local supply store (Chicago area). We tested the tap water with test strips and can see that they are not very accurate.

We picked out a pump/filter package that will filter 30GPM. Now we are looking at electric heaters and two seem like good choices.

Raypak 11022 11KW and Hayward CSPAXI11 11KW. Both will require 240VAC, 60 AMP circuit. Raypak is about $75 more. Any suggestions welcome.

When the pool arrives, we will need to cut round openings for the suction and drain fittings. We are curious what is the best height for the return/drain line? There are NO jets, just the two lines to and from the pump/filter/heater. Would more than one return line, e.g. one close to the bottom and one about half way up be better?

The cover we ordered is a bubble pack type we plan to attach to a sheet of ridgid insulation and lay the bubble pack side against the water. The thought here is to keep the cover in place to reduce heat loss. More insulation on top of the pool and sides may be necessary as the weather cools even though the garage(faces South) is insulated, R40 ceiling, R22 walls, and R8 doors.

We are also working on an entry/exit system that will be safe for carrying Liz in and out of the pool.

A lot to think about!

P.S. To footie. After 30 years with a CP child nothing offends us anymore. Liz has a number of serious motor problems that prevent her from speaking, walking, standing or sitting without support but so far she has excellent bowl/bladder control. Her muscle spasms are reduced with the warm water pool.

Make sure you will hire a good electrician to install a good GFCI circuit.

Good luck!

Claudio

[footie]

P.S. To footie. After 30 years with a CP child nothing offends us anymore. Liz has a number of serious motor problems that prevent her from speaking, walking, standing or sitting without support but so far she has excellent bowl/bladder control. Her muscle spasms are reduced with the warm water pool.

As a fellow parent of a child with needs I know actually how you feel, but without knowing you I didn't want to offend you, especially on a public forum. I'm pleased that this is one less thing to worry about as such things do happen, in fact my son had such an accident last week in our indoor pool and at the moment all the water have been drained and I am in the process of replacing some damaged tiles before refilling and reheating (a costly affair).

Anyway, hope everything works out and please keep us informed.