technical question for the experts

[JcDenton]

I disagree. This forum is successful in part because of the wide diversity of users that frequent the site. Your input is not lengthy at all - it provides an educated response/opinion that I found interesting.

Keep it up.


Jc

[Bonibelle]

Thanks, I feel better  

[salesdvl]

Bon, Actually I appreciated the explanation.  I assumed it to be an exact science.  Interesting ( & scary) to think about the mutating that goes on.

Thanks.

[Vinny]

Bonibelle,

I agree with JcDenton about your post!

Over at Doc's site is a Microbiologist by the name Vermonter and he tries to teach all of us there about how important it is to have a safe tub. I have listened to what he has said.

He has run many tests using his hot tub to see how bacteria behaves in it.

Being in that field, I believe that you'll find exactly what he found - a well sanitized tub is nothing to be afraid of. He advocates the use of dichlor to shock to have the added benefit of superchlorination and kill anything that might reside in the water.

When I got my tub, I was concerned about how long the water has been sitting in the tub. I used a cup of dichlor and had it in the tub for 24 hours and ran the pumps for about 1 hour and 20 min to make sure all bacteria was dead.

The rash that you speak of can be realted to a bacteria that affects the hair follicles and seems to be previlent in poorly sanitized water. The bacteria that causes it apparently can become a biofilm and require a huge dose of chlorine to kill it along with a long contact time.

Someone with your knowledge can be extrremely helpful in this area since you understand the lingo and can spead the word in layman's terms.

[Bonibelle]

I guess my husband thought I was going a bit off the deep end with my germophobia. I really do have concerns and want to start out right when our tub comes. I don't know exactly what kind of skin infection that my cousin actually had but it was very difficult to get rid of. Apparently, the tub had just been filled and heated everyone thought it would be cool to just jump right in.
Unsanitized warm water is a breeding ground for all sorts of things, guess they found that out the hard way!
:-/

[Chas]

Bonibelle,

Your line, "I will be very selective about who soaks in my hot tub" is the very essence of hot tub ownership. I ran a pool service compnay for almost a decade, and I can tell you that I would never soak in a public spa again.

For me, the only way to go is with a privately-owned, well-maintained hot tub in my own backyard.

Keep in mind that a simple test strip can tell you a lot: if you put in chlorine and test a few hours later you will know if there was more bioload or more chlorine. You want the latter, btw

[Bonibelle]

So Chas, is it that simple to see the reduction of bioburden by the change in the chlorine level? Wouldn't it be cool if someone could invent an indicator of the level of contamination at any one time and then you could disinfect accordingly?  Is there a relationship of TDS and bacterial contamination? Or would high levels of TDS prevent effective disinfection?
I was on the phone with one of my girlfriends today and she was surprised that I finally ordered a hot tub. I told her a while ago that I thought  taking a bath is disgusting since you have to sit in your own dirty water. To me a shower is the only way to get clean. So we went rounds about how to keep the hot tub clean and sanitary. Then she asked about showering after going in the tub. I said we would shower before going in, but I didn't give the too much thought yet. Now I need to know..Does everyone run and shower right out of the hot tub?

[Bonibelle]

Ok, so I can't figre out how to "bold" something...the word was after

[East_TX_Spa]

Ok, so I can't figre out how to "bold" something...the word was after

The word "after" has to be between the brackets like this.  "She made me a sandwich after I rubbed her speckled eggs."

Terminator

[Bonibelle]

got it..so do you shower afer soaking in the hot tub?