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You have to use a sanitizer. It does not have to be DiChlor. But you have to use a sanitizer of some sort. I may be a contrarian on this so here goes... I don't use any CYA in my tubs and I sell DiChlor. I also don't use bleach either.I get all the points made about water chemistry when it comes to hot tubs. But I also never see anything that takes into consideration the amount of fresh water added. I know that is too vague to calculate, but I feel that there is enough fresh water added during the life of the fill to make me not worry about CYA if I was concerned. But again- I am not.The cover being on the tub, and the lack of bacteria/algae that is free to get in your tub makes me question the need. Again: I get the science and all the points made. I agree with people who do it that way. Its fine to do it that way. My thing is: What is the difference between adding CYA then switching to bleach vs not? I have tried both ways and it just seems not worth it. I have never seen the ramifications of not doing those extra steps. I always felt that if you keep your pH, alkalinity and sanitizer level in line, only good things happen. As your water is drained every 3-4months depending on usage I have never ran into the issues associated with CYA. And again: I monitor water chemistry for in ground pools so I understand the bigger picture. I don't like bleach as there is too much that can go wrong; Bleach has a short shelf-life (90 days or less, depending on how much it is jostled, spills can be devistating, etc) and granular chlorine (yes- it also has its downsides) tends to last longer and people can buy it in bulk (a relative term as I consider bulk to be 6lbs for a hot tub). So I am taking a different approach than many on this site. But that doesn't mean they are wrong and I am right. I just think that we are all running the same race: We all wanna get to the finish line but we all may run the race a different way.I hope this helps. Good luck moving forward.
Quote from: The Wizard of Spas on December 20, 2016, 12:35:25 pmsorry but the stigma of telling someone who just spent 5 figures on a brand new spa to go into the bathroom and grab the stuff you just scrubbed your toilet with and pour it into your spa is not an appealing proposition to me, others mileage may vary and that's fine.This is why companies take the same basic product, throw it in a fancy container, call it a cool name and sell it for 5x the price. Wizard: what granular chlorine do you use? Most of the options I see are either dichlor, trichlor or calcium hypochlorite. Only one of those without CYA is the CH. I'm sure I am missing others. Curious as I would consider it for the winter months when I am in a bit more of a hurry to get sanitizer in my tub.
sorry but the stigma of telling someone who just spent 5 figures on a brand new spa to go into the bathroom and grab the stuff you just scrubbed your toilet with and pour it into your spa is not an appealing proposition to me, others mileage may vary and that's fine.