Confused by chemical maintenence

[MWFriedman]

Hello all.  So we've had our FreeFlow Passport for about a week and a half and I'm very happy with it.  But I do NOT have a handle on the chemical stuff.  I have a few questions.

1)  We have an ozonator and a chlorine starter kit.  The person who sold me the tub said that because of the ozone, we only need to toss in a half a capful of chlorine each day that someone is in the tub.  I was doing that, but my chlorine was reading SOOOO low.  I mean the lightest color on the test strip.  If I put in around a tablespoon (it's a small spa) then the level comes up in the pink where it should be.  So what is the ozonator doing??  Should I be using a different test strip with an ozonator, or should the reading be lower than what is recommended on the strip?

2)  The test strip comes up in the lowest color for calcium.  But I can't find a product to raise the calcium.  My dealer tells me don't worry about it, that low calcium is fine.  But then why doesn't the strip say "fine" for anything UNDER a certain amount?  Do I need to fix this?

3)  The water surface often has this white swirling in it.  If you look closely, I think they are tiny little air bubbles, but it makes the water LOOK like it has a white swirly film.  How do I get rid of it, or is it fine?

Thanks for any advice.

Meredith

[goose973]

Ozone is a very potent disinfectant, but very short-lived. It will kill bacteria in your water. Your low chlorine level isn't necessarily a big problem, as it seems your dealer has you using it as a booster to help the ozone kill the bacteria. You could add a nature2 mineral pack to your regimen to help with sanitizing. Perhaps a better way to do the chlorine is to put in enough so that you still have 1-2 ppm the next day after your soak. This may take some trial and error. Also, you will eventually need to shock the tub. Consult your dealer on that.

The product that increases calcium is called hardness increaser or calcium hardness increaser. It's most critical with concrete tubs because the water could attack the concrete if it was low in calcium. In acrylic tubs, it's important for keeping foam down and potentially preventing damage to your equipment. Follow your owner's manual recommendations or the dealer's on hardness. My Sundance specifies a hardness level, and I follow that.

As for the things that look like air bubbles-assuming that you still see the bubbles even when your jets havent been running for awhile, we had a similar experience. We noted these persistent "bubbles" long after the jets were shut off (an hour). Air doesn't take that long to come to the surface. We discovered that the bubbles were actually tiny particles of dead skin (I work in a lab). The first few weeks of owning a hot tub will scrub off a lot of dead skin from you (especially from feet) and it's magnified in a small tub. Our tub filters small enough that it would self correct overnight, but you may need to add clarifier to yours if it persists.

[hottubdan]

Your ozone is only effective during the filter cycle.  You are finding the proper amount of chlorine to be using.  Use enough to get the proper reading on the test strip.

I, too, would not be concerned about the calcium level.

[JohnnyK45]

Hi Meredith,

When we bought our new hot tub this year, I threw out the "starter kit" that had about 6-7 bottles of various chemicals from our dealer. 

Instead, I went with a very simple solution by EcoOne that has been flawless and perfect everytime.

One bottle per month of their all natural Spa Monthly...

http://www.ecoonespa.com/spa-products-2/spa-monthly/

Then, when you get out of the hot tub, chuck in one small dissolvable packet of their OneShock...

http://www.ecoonespa.com/spa-products-2/oneshock/

That's it, it's that simple.  No need to bother regularly with test strips at all, nor add + or - this or that, etc.

Anyway, might be worth considering if you continue to have issues with whatever mix of chemicals you are using.

J

[vangoghsear]

One other thing to think about in hot tub maintenance is cleaning of the non submerged surfaces.

When I first got my tub I was getting itchy spots on the underside of my arms, but nowhere else.  It took a week before I realized that the water was not the cause.  I had never sanitized the upper edge of the hot tub where I would rest my arms. 

Now every week or two, I'll fill a small bucket with water, add a couple ounces of unscented Clorox to the bucket and wash all the exposed surfaces above the waterline and the underside of the lid with the hyper-chlorinated solution using a hot tub scrubbing glove,  when I have finished scrubbing the tub, I pour some of the the solution on the plastic steps.  Then I rinse it all down with the hose and spray off the filter. 

It sounds like a lot of work, but all told, it takes about ten minutes, if that.

Since I started doing this, no more itches.   

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

Hello all.  So we've had our FreeFlow Passport for about a week and a half and I'm very happy with it.  But I do NOT have a handle on the chemical stuff.  I have a few questions.

1)  We have an ozonator and a chlorine starter kit.  The person who sold me the tub said that because of the ozone, we only need to toss in a half a capful of chlorine each day that someone is in the tub.  I was doing that, but my chlorine was reading SOOOO low.  I mean the lightest color on the test strip.  If I put in around a tablespoon (it's a small spa) then the level comes up in the pink where it should be.  So what is the ozonator doing??  Should I be using a different test strip with an ozonator, or should the reading be lower than what is recommended on the strip?

2)  The test strip comes up in the lowest color for calcium.  But I can't find a product to raise the calcium.  My dealer tells me don't worry about it, that low calcium is fine.  But then why doesn't the strip say "fine" for anything UNDER a certain amount?  Do I need to fix this?

3)  The water surface often has this white swirling in it.  If you look closely, I think they are tiny little air bubbles, but it makes the water LOOK like it has a white swirly film.  How do I get rid of it, or is it fine?

Thanks for any advice.

Meredith

1. to be honest your ozonator is doing much because that tub does not have a 24hr circulation pump, if your chlorine test strip is coming up white you need to add more sanitizer so that you always have at least a light pink reading on the strip...once that strip hits "white" it only takes 6-8 hours for bacteria to grow.

2.  low calcium can be fine but it would be nice to have a number associated with it rather than just saying its low...can your dealer accurately test this for you? Ideal calcium hardness should be right around 150ppm.  There is product(s) to raise calcium and they are often sold as "calcium booster" or "calcium increaser" but again you need to know what number you are at before you can properly adjust levels

3. not sure to be honest, does this "white" substance appear to be oils or some type of foaming from detergent left in swimsuits? could be something that has been caused from low chlorine levels? have you cleaned the filter recently?

[Chas]

Please consider a water change: water is by far the cheapest 'chem' you can add to your tub, and it has been my pleasure to recommend a water change at 30 days to our new tub owners for over two decades now. It makes things go SO much more smoothly, what with the skin oils coming from deep in your pores, flaking skin from all over, over-tending by most new owners, and other things which may have been left in the tub by the maker, or found their way in during shipping and handling.

You just got there a bit sooner - so give fresh water a try. Money back if not totally satisfied...