treatment before a week away?

[nlittle]

Hi all-
I did a search but was unable to find anything on this topic.  I will be leaving for a week with no-one babysitting the spa.  What do you recommend for a pre-treatment and then post-treatment?

[windsurfdog]

I would clean the filters thoroughly, turn down the temp and add enough chlorine to bring ppm up to 10-15 or so.  Upon returning, if you find you still have a substantial amount of free chlorine, just leave the cover open to the sun (if outside) to help lower it...or invite your nasty inlaws over for a soak...

[hottubdan]

If you follow Surfdog's recommendation (assuming you use chlorine) there is no problem with using the spa at high chlorine levels.  I recall one at one of the Olympic games, the swimmers were in pools with 10+PPM.

If you want to use the spa as soon as you get back, do not turn the temp down.

[cooltoy2000]

I have an ozonator, and I have left my water untreated for as long as two weeks without any problems.

I should not say completely untreated, but just about.

I put a normal amount of bromine ( in my case) after the last soak as I normally would after every soak, and then do a high dose several hours prior to going in again, after the two weeks have gone by. Water is always nice and clear (I know that's not necessarily an indicator of quality, but the water does not smell and have not had any skin issues).

[nlittle]

Thanks all
Will turning it down keep bacteria from growing as fast?  

[cooltoy2000]

Yes. I never did.

[wmccall]

I would clean the filters thoroughly, turn down the temp and add enough chlorine to bring ppm up to 10-15 or so.  Upon returning, if you find you still have a substantial amount of free chlorine, just leave the cover open to the sun (if outside) to help lower it...or invite your nasty inlaws over for a soak...

To add to this train of thought, my tub doesn't have a 24 hour circ pump, the filtration is done by running pump #1 on low for a predetermined amount of time, normally I filter 6 hours a day.  If I was going away that long I would turn it up to 10 in addtion to what WSD had to say.

[nlittle]

Thanks again everyone.  I have a HS which runs all the time on the circ pump with ozone and N2, so I can't schedule any filtration.
I will be out doing this today...probably not the filter cleaning since it is raining and I will be due for a water change when I get back.
See you guys in about a week!

[SpaNE]

Thanks again everyone.  I have a HS which runs all the time on the circ pump with ozone and N2, so I can't schedule any filtration.
I will be out doing this today...probably not the filter cleaning since it is raining and I will be due for a water change when I get back.
See you guys in about a week!

1. How can you tell if your ozonator is working?  
2. I also have a 24 hr. circ pump with my Jacuzzi, but you can also set it to do add'l filtration if you want.  I assme you can do this on the HS as well?
3. Enjoy your vacation!

[cooltoy2000]

1. How can you tell if your ozonator is working?  

In HS tubs bubbles of gas come out of the vent through which hot water comes out of.

[Spatech_tuo]

In HS tubs bubbles of gas come out of the vent through which hot water comes out of.

Which tells you that the ozone sytem is plumbed properly and working unobstructed but it doesn't really tell you that the ozonator is creating bubbles (are those ozone bubbles or air bubbles, that is the question).

One reason I'm an ozone beleiver is the many times people have complained about their water being more difficult to manage than normal only to check it out and find that their ozonator has stopped working, the line has an obstruction, etc and once fixed their water management improves again.

[drewstar]

Nlittle,

Put in a bit extra of dichlor.

When you come back, does again to 5 ppm.  

Don't worry about it.    With the O3, circ pump and  some extra dichlor, you'll be fine.

[cooltoy2000]

Nlittle,

Put in a bit extra of dichlor.

When you come back, does again to 5 ppm.  

Don't worry about it.    With the O3, circ pump and  some extra dichlor, you'll be fine.

[The_Pa._Lady]

nlittle,

I think you have a 2006 Prodigy spa.  That is what we have.  We were away for 3 weeks this winter, all was fine when we got home.  Since it was cold, I did not lower the temp, just added some Dichlor and off we went.  Don't fret, all will be fine.  Enjoy!