Newbie With Sanitation Question, Nature 2 Advise ?

[waterl0gged]

Hey all,

Been reading this forum for a while now, and have been learning a lot, THANKS !!!

I am a newer spa owner, and have a few questions.

We have had our 375 gallon spa running for a few weeks now. Have only been using dichlor ........up till now. Tub has been running great, nice clear water, levels where they should be.....overall its been great. A little more maintanance intensive than I would have thought, but no big deal. Then one day out of th blue, opened up the tub to very cloudy water.......pretty much overnight. We have used the tub quite a bit over the holidays as we had the extra time , and we enjoy it a lot. Anywhere from 2-4 people for an hour each day. I was keeping up with the dichlor daily, in the range of approx 3 ppm. BTW, I am using strips for quick testing, and i also have a titration (drops) tester also that I use when needed or at least every few days.

With the heavy bather load over the holidays, I think I may have gotten behind on the clorine demand, which caused the cloudy water.......I think. Anyway........shocked the tub with MPS, and the tub was still cloudy, maybe worse. Then I superclorinated the tub to 10 PPM, and the water was still cloudy.......not worse, but not any better. Shocked it again...........still nothing. Hmmm.........

After a few days of this , and starting to get frustrated because we cant use our new tub (that we somehow cant live without now, even though we have never had one before, lol) I decided to flush, then drain and refill and start fresh. Maybe it needed it after out hot tub party week of sorts, lol !

Filled it it up fresh again (good city water), then adjusted my levels. Needed some baking soda to raise the alk, and used some soda ash to raise the ph a little more. Now I am good with that PH is 7.6, alk is about 100. New filter installed. Aslo added the biozorb roll in the skimmer.

Now what sanitiation route to go with............. Wanted to switch to bromine for ease of use but holding on that for now.

Decide to go with the Nature 2 route (which I already had on hand). Installed the nature 2 stick then added some dichlor to start th stick up. Now comes the questions..............there are 3 options to go with so far as I have been told with the nature 2 system. (BTW, we have no sensitivity problems with clorine at all).

Method 1 . Add Dichlor to activate Just add MPS after every use and when needed. Shock every week with dichlor.

Method 2. Add Dichlor to activate. Just add Dichlor after every use and when needed. Shock every week with MPS.

Method 3. Strangest option that came from the dealer on how to use the Nature 2. Add Dichlor to activate. Just add Dichlor, and MPS on alternating days, then shock when needed with dichlor or MPS.

So far I have only "Add Dichlor to activate nature 2 stick). Clorine levels are a bit high still.........about 8ppm, but dropping slowly. Water is crystal clear, and want to keep it that way.

What would you recommend next ? What Method would be the best ? I do want to give th nature 2 a try, and dont mind keeping my clorine levels at a low rate of .5 to 1 ppm, for safety and what nature 2 calls for.

What method above would be th best for the nature 2, and for high bather load.

(why do i have the feeling that everyone is going to say ditch the stick, lol)

Thanks in advance !!!!

waterl0gged.

[chem geek]

Unless you initially did a decontamination using Spa System Flush for your new spa, then the first usage won't last as long before you need to change the water because of leftover greases as well as potential biofilm in the pipes. Combine that with Dichlor-only use where the CYA builds up to make chlorine less effective the more you use the tub and it can cause problems with cloudy water. If you want to use chlorine, then you should clean things out with Spa System Flush and then use the Dichlor-then-bleach method (but I recommend getting the TA down to 50 ppm in that case and also using 50 ppm Borates).

As for Nature2, your best approach would be to use Dichlor to activate the cartridge, MPS daily and Dichlor once a week or so as needed to keep the water clear.

[waterl0gged]

Thanks for the reply Chem Geek,

The spa was not brand new, but we were able to see it in filled working condition and did a wet-test before we made the purchase. Spa is great, we love it, no problems other than the cloudy water overnight which I attribute to my inexperience in sanitation and water balance.

Anyway, did the drain and refill overthe weekend........dang thats a cold job in the winter! Then balanced the water before I added any sanitation. Got the alk at about 80-100, than brought the PH up to about 7.5. Installed the nature 2 stick, and superclorinated the water with dichlor to 10ppm and let it run while heating overnight. Also installed a new filter, and a zorbo thing.

Water is crystal clear again, and I will try hard to keep it that way.

BTW, we dont keep our tub extremely hot. Max would be 102 once in a while , but it usually set at 100.

I am not sure if I trust the Nature 2 with only MPS for enough sanitation. I would rather be safe than sorry, and we have no issues with clorine so far. Nature 2 does have a alternative method in where you use dichlor instead of MPS, so I thing I will go that route to be safe. I can just Shock with MPS weekly, or use MPS when needed for higher bathing loads.

I will just add enough dichlor to the water after we use the tub to bring the clorine level up to about 2-3 ppm. The only issue I can see is the CYA getting out of hand. I do not have a test for CYA yet.

If I use bleach vs dichlor, would that help with the CYA building up too much?

So far I am using approx 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of dichlor per person hour after we exit the tub while the pumps are running, so its ready for the next day. (while using the nature 2 stick also) . Seems to be working great, but not sure how my CYA is building? Does shocking with MPS once per week help with lowering CYA?

The levels when we get in the tub the next day are at .5-1 ppm which fine with us, and at least I feel the tub has been sanitized properly.

Am I wrong in running the tub this way?

I am going to read up on the dichlor / bleach method and see if that will work for us as well. I just like to have the extra "buffer of safety" by using the nature 2 stick incase we accidently neglect the tub for a day or two once in a while. I dont mind paying a little extra every 3-4 months for a new stick, if it gives us a little extra sanitation buffer.

Thanks,

waterl0gged

[chem geek]

Yes, using bleach instead of Dichlor would prevent the CYA from rising, but when using chlorine you do want at least some CYA in the water so want to at least start out using Dichlor. However, with N2 there is nothing wrong using MPS as your primary oxidizer/disinfectant because of the silver ions from N2. Just use chlorine once a week with Dichlor and you should be fine. The key is to always maintain a disinfectant level so even if you use MPS you need to use enough to always measure a residual.

[mhaleusa]

Pretty new owner here (about 4 months) and wanted to say that I like the Nature2/MPS set up. I would have to say though.... that I liberally use bleach (after using dicholor to CYA = 30 or so) at least 2x per week (wednesday and sunday). Some would say I'm wasting money and I should just go all bleach.... but for me this works.

There is never a question that there is something in the tub working on the nasties MPS/Chlorine/Silver. My biggest concern was how long I could walk away without problems over the holidays. Before leaving I just double dosed with bleach (1 cup for 435 gallons) and a week later upon returning from Christmas vacation... water still looked just fine.

Good luck to you.

[waterl0gged]

Pretty new owner here (about 4 months) and wanted to say that I like the Nature2/MPS set up. I would have to say though.... that I liberally use bleach (after using dicholor to CYA = 30 or so) at least 2x per week (wednesday and sunday). Some would say I'm wasting money and I should just go all bleach.... but for me this works.

There is never a question that there is something in the tub working on the nasties MPS/Chlorine/Silver. My biggest concern was how long I could walk away without problems over the holidays. Before leaving I just double dosed with bleach (1 cup for 435 gallons) and a week later upon returning from Christmas vacation... water still looked just fine.

Good luck to you.

Yea, Thats how I look at it too. The N2 sticks only cost $20. bucks so I would rather have an extra measure of sanitation in place. I am not worried if some would say I am wasting a few bucks. I am not looking to keep the tub going as cheap as possible. Better safe than sorry. I like having the N2 installed for when we are away for a few days, or if I neglect the tub accidently for a day or two. At least when I open the cover on return, I shouldnt have a mess to deal with.

The N2 set-up I am using is working well so far. I am using MPS, but am also using Dichlor (will switch to bleach soon) a few times per week for that extra measure of safety. I plan on changing the N2 every 3 months just incase the extra clorine use is degrading the N2 prematurely.

I do have a 2 week vacation coming up soon........not sure how I am going to deal with that. I am thinking of installing a new N2 stick and super clorinating to 10-15ppm before we leave for vacation. Also will turn the temp down to the lowest at 80 deg. Hopefully that will work, and I wont return to a mess.

I am learning as I go, but so far, I am liking the N2 Spa.

waterl0gged

[mhaleusa]

I am no expert... but I don't think chlorine degrades the N2. It just makes for more expensive water since you are using enough chlorine to be considered a sanitizer.

As far as your 2 week vacation... I'd feel really confident for a week... maybe even two. However, I'd feel even better if I could get someone to check in on it (and add bleach) after a week. Hopefully you can get some more firm advice on this.

[chem geek]

There is an initial reaction of chlorine with a NEW Nature2 stick, which they call "activating" it, but it just reacts with something in the stick that lets the silver ions then start to get dissolved into the water. After that initial point, you don't need to use chlorine for the N2 itself and can use MPS instead, but usually you need to use chlorine once in a while (typically once a week) to keep the water clear. That's because MPS doesn't oxidize the same chemicals in bather waste nor at the same rate as chlorine.