Water Condition After Being Away 30+ days

[Brookenstein]

I've been gone from the house/tub for 33 of the last 37 days.  My husband was home 21 out of the 37 days and maintained it then.

We've both been gone for the last 10 days, so I went out there and found a few things.  First of all, my water is old, so this isn't a big surprise.  I plan to change the water in the next week or so.  Just waiting for new N2 cartridge and a Taylor Test Kit from doc.

Anyway, the water was cloudy, very cloudy.  Ph and Alk were perfect.  No chlorine (obviously).  I went ahead and did a super shock and added 3TBS of dichlor.  Ten minutes later, NOTHING shows on the test strip.  Do you think the tub was that nasty that it ate all the chlorine that quickly or is it possible that I bleached the strips with that much dichlor.  I used the MPS strips (for comparison sake, though I've added no MPS yet) and that showed the MPS as high.  Is it safe to assumme since chlorine can effect MPS readings that there is some chlorine in there?

Should I leave it alone for a day or add more dichlor?  I want to use the tub as soon as possible.

Also, around the edges of the tub (not the water line) was dirty nasty and the inside of my cover was nasty.  I plan to wipe it all down later today with chlorinated water.

Any input appreciated.

[neocacher]

For those who like ozone, This incident shows one of the benefits of have ozone 24/7 in a tub.

I have no clue what you should do. I suppose if you want to wait to change water you will have to shock the crap out of it!

Why dont you just change the water now and clean the filter?  I bet it would save a lot of money on chemicals.  That way you could use it late tonight or tomorrow, depending on your heater.

You are lucky your pH and ALK are ok!

Neo

[Brookenstein]

For those who like ozone, This incident shows one of the benefits of have ozone 24/7 in a tub.

I have no clue what you should do. I suppose if you want to wait to change water you will have to shock the crap out of it!

Why dont you just change the water now and clean the filter?  I bet it would save a lot of money on chemicals.  That way you could use it late tonight or tomorrow, depending on your heater.

You are lucky your pH and ALK are ok!

Neo

I do have ozone, 24/7... not sure if you were implying I didn't and that is why my water is bad or implying I did and it could have been worse?  

I'm waiting a few days because I don't have an N2 cartridge to put in now, I have 2 suitcases of laundry to wash, have to grocery shop, unpack a carload of Christmas presents and misc crap, have 3 extra guests in my house, have to drive to Escondido to pick up a telescope for my son's birthday, and I'm exhausted.    In short, I don't have time for a few days.

[Chad]

Brooke I'm far from an expert but I would think that the 3TBS dose bleached your strips. That's alot of dichlor to add to not have any FC present 10 minutes later.

[neocacher]

Brook,

I didn't know you had ozone. Ozone should have helped. It probably would have been a lot worse without it.

Neo

[Chas]

What kind of telescope?

Oh - sorry. No FC. Right.

Take a half a glass of water out of your tub. Go into the kitchen and fill the glass the rest of the way with tap water. Test for FC. If you now have a high reading, then you have bleached out the strips. If you still have no or a low reading, then you need to go add more chlorine to the tub.

[Brookenstein]

Meade NG-70SPR Telescope


Ok, I ended up adding 2 more TBS of dichlor, ran the jets about 30 minutes and now I'm right at 5ppm.  The water is starting to clear as well.  Should I add some clarifier or just let the dichlor work?

[svspa]

Brooke,

Did you say you have some MPS? A couple of tablespoons of MPS would help clear it up. Normally I would give it a couple of tablespoons each of dichlor and MPS. Wait a day and repeat if necessary. Then when it's starting to clear up add a little clarifier, scooping the yucky clarifier foam out with a leaf net.

Steve

[Steve]

Chas' idea is a good one though I highly doubt you have bleached it out with that small amount considering the condition of the water. Consider a chorine scale to have a negative value and when water goes unattended for a period of time, that reading can drop in negative values. It would take twice as much chlorine to register a decent value. Ever seen a pool with algae go through chlorine? It can sometimes take PAILS of chlorine (and many $$) to register anything.

Being that the water is old and due for a change, I wouldn't throw anything else in the water except maybe a sump pump!

Happy New Year all!!

Steve

[Vinny]

Neo,

This is the WHOLE argument with ozone - WE AIN'T TALKING ABOUT OZONE FOR DRINKING WATER!

Anyone whole wholeheartedly believes ozone will protect the tub for any extended period of time is totally mistaken. And I believe Brooke has a HS tub so even the Freshwater (or whatever it's called) is not capable of providing protection. This holds true for all tubs.

Brooke,

I believe that the chlorine was used up with the tub water. Don't know what you are using now to test but my experience with an OTO kit and DPD kit (Talyor) shows that they will show high chlorine present.

My advice would be to dump the water, put the filters into a bucket of bleach and water and shock it again with 10 PPM chlorine once the new water is in the tub.

[Steve]

Brook,

I didn't know you had ozone. Ozone should have helped. It probably would have been a lot worse without it.

Neo

Sometimes ozone is over sold and over stated and this quote reflects that. I did find it interesting that Neo assumed there was an ozonator involved...

Ozone is an AID only and not a miracle cure for spas. This situation reflects that fact. Ozone IS NOT A SANITIZER therefore it will not keep a spa clean and clear without the presence of a sanitizer such as chlorine or bromine! I doubt there would be a noticeable difference with or without ozone in this case...

Steve

[Bonibelle]

Brooke, I am wondering if it would be worth it for you to just put a Bromine floater in while you are away...It may keep things clean so that when you come back home your clean up would be easier.
I think you can convert your chlorine tub to bromine...and then just dump and go back to your regular sanitizer.
I think T-Lady did that for a period of time when she knew she wouldn't be using her tub as much...just a thought

[neocacher]

I DID NOT assume there was an ozinatator involved at all. Actually I assumed there WAS NOT one, until she told me that she had one.

I know that ozone is not a cure-all.   In my 2nd post, all I said was that it may have been worse if she did not have any ozone at all.

I believe that the ozone probably helped some, but obviously not enough.

Sheesh.

Neo

[shabba34]

Everyone is questioning the ozone system not performing as expected...I would question Brooks husband as to what company he was keeping while she was gone.  When the cats away...  Just playin with ya Brook.

[Brookenstein]

Everyone is questioning the ozone system not performing as expected...I would question Brooks husband as to what company he was keeping while she was gone.  When the cats away...  Just playin with ya Brook.

He knows better...
There are two things he always remembers:
1) It's cheaper to keep her
2)  Always share