Small brown dots

[Chad]

It's either black algea or mold. Without sunlight I don't know if algea will grow.

I believe one of the byproducts of MPS is phosphates which algea LOVE.

Also with your not using chlorine the spots may be the results of it - something decided to grow.

Ok, thanks Vinny. So you definetly think it is not from my ozonator.

So I guess mold and algae don't raise the water's demand for dichlor. Or maybe I'm just not noticing that it is. :-/

[Vinny]

Mold won't, algea will.

I had an instance where my pool used over 15 PPM overnight. I always add chlorine to my pool once the sun is off of it (sun will destroy chlorine) and I woke up in the morning to 0 chlorine - I had to hit it hard the next night. Algea and or bacteria will even eat the stabilizer - I just had that this year.

I am leaning towards it not being black algea because of the lack of sunlightt. I guess it could be bacteria under the water and mold above the water. I think that once a protective layer forms on bacteria that normal levels of chlorine can't penetrate it so it doesn't get consumed. I am also thinking it's also in the pipes as well.

I would raise the chlorine level to over 10 PPM and leave it there for a day or two unless you want to totally nuke the tub with 50+ PPM chlorine. I would run the jets a lot (at least 1 hour) and wipe down the cover with that highly chlorinated water ... maybe 2x. You should be able to get rid of it all.

[Chad]

Thanks Vinny.

I guess I was pushing the limits of my Nature 2 and ozone for too long and this is what I got. I'm assuming it was a gradual thing and not an overnighter. Looks like I'll be going back to an unmodified Vermonter Method again. I'll just have to dump and refill a little more often due to how fast it raises the CYA but I'd rather do that than have this happen again, for sure.

[Chad]

I just bit the bullet and jumped in the spa while it had nearly an FC of 10ppm. It was the only way I could reach all the spots. I just used a magic eraser and alot of elbow grease and they all came off.  As soon as I got out I added another 4 ppm dose with the cover closed. Luckily I don't have sensitive skin.

[Vinny]

I was once in my tub with over 20 PPM chlorine ... it smelled a little like chlorine but it wasn't until I actually took a reading that I saw it was that high. My tub had developed chlorine lock for some reason but I didn't know it and I kept adding chlorine and shocking as normal.

Don't forget to run the jets!

[IlliniFan]

Chad,
It really sounds like the same thing I had.  My water was clear too.  At the time I was using the reserve and renew system.  I took a tooth brush and brushed all around my jets.  Don't forget as well to run you air and water fall.  Since I super shocked it, I kept my bromine level greater than could read on my strips for 5 days, I have not seen it return.  And although I did not drain my water, knock on wood, I have had no further rash.  Good luck!
Cathy

[Chad]

Thanks Cathy. I'll triple check to make sure all water outlets are on and open. Good idea with the toothbrush.

I'm gonna try and do what Vinny said and keep my FC around 10 ppm for a few days and go from there. I was just out there and all is clear except for some small areas on my cover that just don't want to go away. I've scrubbed it down three times today with highly chlorinated water and kept the cover on during shocking. Hopefully it will clear by morning......


Chad

[Chad]

I've tried to keep my water at a 10+ppm FC the best I could for the past 36 hours. (I'm afraid to check my other levels, especially my CYA. I'm sure they're all out of wack now.) Everything in and out of the water, on the shell cleared up a few hours after the first supershock and not returned. There's only just a few faint spots on the underside of the cover now, but they are however progressively getting better. This morning I took one of those deck brushes and scubbed it down a 4th time. If it's not completely cleared by morning, do you guys think it would be ok to use a product such as Tilex directly on the cover? Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Chad

Btw, it's a good thing I have a lighter colored shell(Platinum White) because I don't think I would have been able to see the spots otherwise. This is the main reason I buy Pearl White cars as well. It's one of a few colors that enables you to truly say," My car is spotless."

[Bonibelle]

Chad, I use Chlorox Clean up.. since it is chlorine based. I don't know what is in Tilex, it may be sodium Hydroxide..so check that first. The Chlorox works great even for cleaning my tub when I do a dump and refill. I just rinse it out of the tub. I think on the cover you could just scrub and wipe off.  good luck

[Chad]

Chad, I use Chlorox Clean up.. since it is chlorine based. I don't know what is in Tilex, it may be sodium Hydroxide..so check that first. The Chlorox works great even for cleaning my tub when I do a dump and refill. I just rinse it out of the tub. I think on the cover you could just scrub and wipe off.  good luck

Thanks Bonni.
Yeah Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover does contain sodium hydroxide. Why is this a no no? Is Chlorox Clean Up the wipes?
I'm at the point now where I just want to use straight bleach. Everything seems to be fine except for some really faint spots on the underside of my cover. I've kept my water close to 10ppm for over 2 days now. My only concern now is with the cover but I don't know what else to do. I've scubbed it down with that highly chlorinated water 5 times! Not to mention keeping the cover closed to all the off gasing during shocks.

[Cyn]

Chad--The Clorox wipes I have do not contain chlorine/bleach.  

[Vinny]

Chad,

I wouldn't worry too much about the stabilizer. Any and all of us that use dichlor have high CYA in a month and really high in 3 months.  Most people who own pools use trichlor and their stabilizer is probably through the roof as well. Remember that every time we add 1 PPM chlorine we are ading 0.9 PPM CYA.

Chlorine is still killing bacteria at 300 PPM CYA although it doesn't kill the hot tub itch bacteria.

Instead of changing completely why don't you modify your current way of doing things - maybe add chlorine 1/2 way through your week instead of MPS and see how that goes.

As far as cleaning the cover, I usually only use bleach and water and let it sit a while on the cover. I do notice that anything that resembles mold ( I sometimes get a pink substance on my cover) takes a while to disappear completely.

[Cyn]

Vinny--mold and mildew can be just about any color of the rainbow.  Bathroom midlew is often pink, so you maybe dealing with some sort of growth on your cover.  

[Chad]

Chad,

I wouldn't worry too much about the stabilizer. Any and all of us that use dichlor have high CYA in a month and really high in 3 months.  Most people who own pools use trichlor and their stabilizer is probably through the roof as well. Remember that every time we add 1 PPM chlorine we are ading 0.9 PPM CYA.

Chlorine is still killing bacteria at 300 PPM CYA although it doesn't kill the hot tub itch bacteria.

Instead of changing completely why don't you modify your current way of doing things - maybe add chlorine 1/2 way through your week instead of MPS and see how that goes.

As far as cleaning the cover, I usually only use bleach and water and let it sit a while on the cover. I do notice that anything that resembles mold ( I sometimes get a pink substance on my cover) takes a while to disappear completely.

Thanks as usual Vinny. You brought up some good points.

I'm using an N2 and have 03 as you know. I was only adding two 3-4 ppm doses of dichlor a week and a buffered mps shock every 7-10 days. Every thing seemed fine. I was never registering any CC and my water was always clear and odorless. There was never any abnormal dichlor demand either. I'm assuming if I would have just swapped the mps shock with a dichlor dose higher than my usual 3-4 ppm dose, maybe 7-10 ppm, I wouldn't have had this problem. My tub was never getting that "super sanitizing" effect. For as many times as I've read Vermonter's Method of dichlor dosing you would have thought I would have abided by one of his golden rules. Live and Learn.

[Chad]

(Deep breath) Okay, so here's the situation. I just got back in from my spa and I noticed some spots on the shell have reappeared. As you know I completely nuked my tub the past few days. My cover is looking alot better and is almost cleared up 100%. So my question is, could these spots on the shell be from something else besides bacteria such as tiny asphalt crumbs falling from my roof into my spa?
 My tub sits only about 3' from my house and has always accumulated alot of these crumbs. I don't get them out as often as I should. It should be done weekly but I might do it monthly. Could this be my problem or am I in lala land?

Thanks,

Chad

Btw, I do notice some rust colored areas on my concrete patio and on top of my cover. Is there something in asphalt that turns things a rusty color? I hope so!