The Vermonter method

[Gomboman]

It was great to have the legend, Vermonter, post on our site today. Most of the regulars here have read his post titled "What is the "Dichlor Dosing - Vermonter Style" on http://www.rhtubs.com/cgi-bin/bbs/config.pl under the FAQ section. If you haven't read this piece I highly recommend it.

Anyway, if you're reading this thread Vermonter, I'm curious whether or not you have made any changes to your method over the last couple of years? Also, I would love to hear what you think about using N2 cartridges in conjunction with dichlor and ozone. Are most of us just wasting our money?

Thanks in advance......

[Vermonter]

Hi Gomboman,

First, thank-you for the compliment.  

But to clarify, I have certain areas of expertise - mostly dealing with how you can ensure hot tubs to be safe to use from a microbiological standpoint and, to a lesser extent, dealing with water chemistry.  I was a new owner - back in 2001 - and worked hard to understand the "ins and outs" of hot tubs - from the microbiological and chemical viewpoints along with some basic understanding on design.  I found a lot of conflicting and confusing information - and a lot of misinformed people.  My belief is that, for most people, owning and maintaining a hot tub should be simple and trouble-free - and that (to help people achieve that) is the goal of most of my posts.

In general, my posts focus on questions or issues concerning microbiology or chemistry - and I try to differentiate between my "opinion" on things vs. facts.  I encourage questions - of any type - and will try to answer as many as I can.  To some I have to say "I don't know".   There are times where I and others will differ on an issue - but that's the beauty of forums such as this and Doc's.

Many, many others on this forum and on rhtubs.com forum have expertise equal to or exceeding mine in many other aspects of hot tub design, electrical, troubleshooting, etc.  I, as do most in these forums, willingly share my knowledge and experience and hope it helps someone.  

I personally am pleased to know that my "Vermonter - Dichlor" regimen (written as a response to a question from someone who, at the time, was confused about the use of dichlor) has worked for and helped many.    It is an ultra-conservative (safe) approach for producing and maintaining a mcrobiologically safe tub.  It was originally put together so as  to ensure that the "regimen" would work not just in my tub and a few others' tubs, but rather that it would work in essentially any tub - regardless of size, makeup water quality, etc.  

Yes, I should rework it some but as a conservative approach,I don't think it will change much.  Perhaps I will try to expand it to include tubs with ozone or Nature2, but again, its original purpose was to have something that would work for anyone - regardless of any secondary sanitizers.

I'll post later on your specific question of using N2 with dichlor and ozone.  Busy day here today.

Best,

Vermonter

[kervis]

I have a 400 gallon tub and am challenged by math!   Somewhere I saw an informative post/article, whatever, where you plugged in your gallons and it gave you the amount needed to put in your tub to achieve the ppms that you needed for dichlor, ph, alk....  You guys would know what I am talking about.  Is it a post here or on Doc's site?  I can't find it anywhere and can't remember where/how I found it in the first place!  Hope someone can find it--thanks!

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

You mean this (bout half way down the page);

http://www.rhtubs.com/info/water.htm

[kervis]

Wahoo!!  Yes, and I shall bookmark it immediately!

I am a month into hottubbing now and have been proud of my progress.  I've survived yellow foamy scum, brown stringy scum, no chlorine-cloudy, and I have conquered it all with flying colors.

Now, my once high Ph and TA has dropped  too low, along with my calcium.  

I added baking soda and some Calcium stuff--game on.

I find it odd that I would have to add so much spa down on fill up, then 5 weeks later it's too low.  :-/ Perhaps I'll have to contact Brewman if I can't figure this out.  He's close by.

Thanks much for this link!!

[devilwoman]

Kervis, about the PH being originally to high and then in 5 weeks it is too low.  I find that dichlor tends to bring the PH in my tub down so I don't worry too much about trying to get it perfect 7.4-7.5.  When I fill the tub the PH will run 8.0 or a little higher...but it wont be long before it is 7.8 then 7.6 and 7.4 etc.  I think it is the nature of the beast.  I dont find any discolor or rings around the tub so I dont think it is a serious problem as long as it doesn't constantly stay at 8.0.  Just my experience though not sure how others deal with their high ph.  Also as time goes on, and the ph begins to get rather low, I find myself putting additional water in the tub because of evaporation.  This then keeps the pH in a fairly balanced range from 7.2-7.8.  Alkalinity is around 180ppm.  A little high but not a big problem.

Good luck.