14 weeks in , drain/fill likley soon

[bachman]

Within days, I'll confirm CYA and TDS to determine the 3.5 month status of our tub water. I took a sample to work just on the chance our meter there (has a TDS feature) will give me something accurate and useful. That reading a few days ago was in the 1900 range for TDS.
Due here in the next day or two, CYA and TDS strips I ordered will provide a second TDS range to see if the meter reading was worthwhile plus the CYA reading. I'll be sure to post some water test info just to pass along my water situation within this 14 week timeframe in case it gives anyone else some insights or relevant comparisons. 
Knowing I'm getting closer to the day I drain and refill, I'm remembering some search's and info I dug up a while back. I'll refresh by going over the opinions, experiences and recommendations again soon but just a few things come to mind I hadn't bumped into;

* If you have done a few or more of the drain and fills, did you try out the more mentioned / more recognized brands for decon cleaners  and if so, did you test or compare a few to find one you liked better than another ?

* Most of my reading says just use as directed- Wondering if I should bleed off a little of the tub water capacity first to make the solution concentration a bit stronger?
ALSO- How long to run the pumps to get the crud out?  A few hours at a time over one or two days?  Let it set / soak overnight ?

* Is tub water okay / safe for the yard - lawn to take up some of draining ? My yard is far from perfect but I don't want to invite eco problems, lawsuits or kill the next 25-year growth cycle for lawn prospects. 

Thanks All for any comments or input and go ahead making fun of me for all the questions !!   
Added-  400 gallon tub with spa frog-mineral/bromine

~ bach

[bud16415]

It wont hurt the lawn, but you might make a mess with it being winter. I bought a 2” corrugated pool hose and connected it to a 4’ piece of 2” pvc pipe to use as a siphon. The ridged pipe lets me suck up the bottom of the tub a little and keeps it in the tub if I drain that way. I do it if I’m in a hurry or want the water on the yard. Most of the time I use the drain hose fitting and I have a hose connected straight into the houses waste water that runs to the city sewer system. They charge me full price for the water so I send it back when I’m done with it and it goes thru waste treatment.

Mid winter if my water looks and feels good and is getting wonkie due to TDS I just drain it down half way and refill it to get by till spring.

I have never used a purge product but watched videos of them. One guy uses 5 gallons of vinegar and got a lot of crud out of a used tub.

A couple times I took a large jet out and tried to see if there was anything behind that looked bad and I didn’t see anything.   

[bachman]

Thanks for the info Bud. 
I recall a vid showing a very contaminated tub that got quite an internal scrubbing from vinegar. I think the guy ran it quite a while too.
pretty encouraging for something so readily available and inexpensive like vinegar !

It'll be handy not to worry about the yard for draining and actually, it may help me settle the yard some. It's always been lumpy and extra firm- darn near like cement. Might be a smart time and method to roll it and smooth it out after saoking it real well with this by-product water.

Since our tub is 2nd hand and a 2004 model year, I'm interested more than ever for this opportunity on decontamination just to be safe and probaly would have done so when we first got it here. Just didn't know or think about it as a procedure. The owners are people we have known well for 25 years and they are not one's to take short cuts or cuts costs. I'm hopeful their drain / fill and decon procedures were by the book as per manufacturer / owners manual info and on line research. Were I more concerned or anxious about crud and bio-film problems, I'd not prolong the water change.

I do expect to see some residual come out and hope to not be too horrified.

[bud16415]

We use vinegar in a spray bottle as our main cleaning product. when i drain the tub i then take the shop vac and get all the water that wont drain. then take the leaf blower (same shop vac converts to blower) and stick it in each jet and blow water out the others. then i have even stuck it in the drain hole and blown down where the filter goes. This get out at least 5 more gallons. Then we get in the tub with vinegar spray and micro fiber and polish it all down.

Between fills about every other week i get in and take a micro fiber and just go over seats and water line. If there is any crud the cloth will feel a little sticky on the acrylic. Couple swipes and it feels like glass.