Dechlor Then Bleach... Dichlor And Bleach.

[seabright_sc]

New refill and was hoping to switch to Dichlor then Bleach method based on my research... but my wife won't have it. No matter what she is convinced that Bleach is not a good thing to add to hot tubs (at least not daily)... especially since owner's manual and local dealer say so. Which is fine since we're used to Dichlor and it works for us.... except in one situation....

Dichlor granules need to be added with jets/pump on. Which is fine 80% of the time. However, once or twice every week or so I use our tub late at night for a long soak. Per my agreement with my neighbor, I do not turn on the jets after 10 pm. So... this means that I can not add dichlor granules after my late night soak. And from my understanding you should never let your FC levels to reach 0. Which is exactly what happens if I don't add sanitizer after each use.

So I am thinking of using bleach for my sanitation one or twice a week after my late night soaks. My thinking is that if I agitate the water and slowly distribute the bleach around the tub, the 24 hr. circ. pump will do the rest and I do not need to turn on the jets to mix in the bleach (as opposed to definitely having to turn on the jets when I add dichlor granules.)

So... i it okay to use Dichlor 90% of the time and add bleach on occasion when I can't turn on the jets (being respectful of my neighor's concerns about noise)? Or is there another liquid sanitizer I could use from time to time instead? I know that I should just switch to dichlor then bleach method and I'm working on that. But you can't argue with the mrs.

Thank you!

[chem geek]

Though you could do what you say, you could also just pre-dissolve the Dichlor in a bucket of spa water. The circulation pump should be reasonable for mixing the chlorine. You don't necessarily have to use the spa jets. They just have things mix much faster. I'm assuming that you heard that you had to add Dichlor with the jets on because they may otherwise not dissolve and mix as well -- that's debatable, but pre-dissolving should solve that potential problem.

Bleach and chlorinating liquid are the only liquid chlorine sanitizers. If you want to have your water last longer by not building up Cyanuric Acid (CYA) from using Dichlor-only, then you can use lithium hypochlorite which is granular instead of using bleach, but this is MUCH more expensive then bleach and also more expensive than Dichlor. However, it should appease both your wife and the dealer, even though lithium hypochlorite and sodium hypochlorite will result in identical chlorine in the water! So you could do Dichlor-then-Lithium Hypochlorite.

[seabright_sc]

Though you could do what you say, you could also just pre-dissolve the Dichlor in a bucket of spa water. The circulation pump should be reasonable for mixing the chlorine. You don't necessarily have to use the spa jets. They just have things mix much faster. I'm assuming that you heard that you had to add Dichlor with the jets on because they may otherwise not dissolve and mix as well -- that's debatable, but pre-dissolving should solve that potential problem.

Bleach and chlorinating liquid are the only liquid chlorine sanitizers. If you want to have your water last longer by not building up Cyanuric Acid (CYA) from using Dichlor-only, then you can use lithium hypochlorite which is granular instead of using bleach, but this is MUCH more expensive then bleach and also more expensive than Dichlor. However, it should appease both your wife and the dealer, even though lithium hypochlorite and sodium hypochlorite will result in identical chlorine in the water! So you could do Dichlor-then-Lithium Hypochlorite.

Thank you for the tips! That was exactly what I was looking for:)

[chem geek]

Even with the Dichlor then Lithium Hypochlorite method, you must follow the instructions carefully as described in this post. So get the TA lower (as low as 50 ppm, if needed) by the time you switch to using lithium hypochlorite and use 50 ppm Borates (Proteam Gentle Spa) so that the pH is more stable.