Weekly shock necessary???

[Tonyf]

My wife and I use the spa twice a week and I forgot to shock it last week. The water is still crystal clear and in balance. Is it necessary to shock every week or what is the criteria to determine when you need to shock. Is it when you begin to smell chlorine?

Tony

[Steve]

Being such low usage, you may get away with every couple of weeks. I prefer to be more proactive than to wait for issues though... Shocking is a key componant to watercare. The results will not provide visual stimulation other than maintaining clear water.

Kinda like waiting for the oil light to come on before checking your oil! Not highly recommended!

[2busymom]

I agree with Steve.  When the water is fresh from a drain you've got a little "play" in how often to shock.  I have found that sometimes just a day or 2 late and my water can get green and cloudy.  Also trying to get/keep yourself on a schedule helps to  build a good habit (re: water care).

[Tonyf]

Thanks for the suggestion, weekly it will be.
Tony

[IL Parrothead]

On the same topic, I'm using a bromine in-line frog.  The non-chlorine shock that came with the start-up chemicals is labeled Activator/Shock.  The salesman indicated to shock weekly.  The container of the chemical says to shock daily.  Seems like that's a lot of work -- and I went with the inline frog because everyone said it takes the least work.  Anyway, we're having trouble keeping the bromine stabilized unless we do shock every couple of days.  The shock we're using is Rendevous Activate.  Anyone familiar with it, or have a better idea?

[Steve]

This could be confusion in terminology. You need to activate the bromine salts a regular bases but shocking the water is not the same. Reaching breakpoint chlorination at 10ppm+ is shocking. Activating bromine or just boosting a chlorine reading with a granular chlorine product is not shocking.

[windsurfdog]

Activating bromine or just boosting a chlorine reading with a granular chlorine product is not shocking.

First, I'm not in the camp that believes a weekly shock is a necessity.  Checking chlorine levels weekly IS a neccessity and deciding to shock based upon CC readings is my preference.  Shocking will have an downward effect on pH (with dichlor, not as much, with MPS, decidedly so) so shocking when it is not needed would affect pH as well as TDS, though minimally.

Steve, if one's CC readings were, let's say, .3 (I know this is difficult if not impossible to measure with standard test kits but follow with me for example's sake), if one boosted their chlorine reading by adding enough to bring it up to 3 ppm (a good practice after a soak), wouldn't this meet the chlorine break point and allow for oxidation of the CC and contaminates?  If so, this would support my non-regular shocking routine.

That said, if I had a "regular" shocking routine, it would be no more often than once every 2-3 weeks.

BTW, my routine produces consistently sparkling blue-clear water for me.

Something to ponder... 8-)

[Steve]

Hey Windy,

I've read a couple of times about the 10X "rule" about shocking but this something I was never taught and never heard of here until recently. We were told that BP chlorination starts at 10ppm. I don't believe that raising your chlorine to 3ppm at any point will provide you with any form of true shocking. After 3 classes over the years with Dr. Bob and many others (training in watercare was of great importance to our company), never did I hear that "rule". In fact, we were always told to recommend shocking weekly regardless of usage!

I believe that shocking the water weekly provides a far greater benefit in overall watercare. The concern of TDS was never an issue due to the small quantities and the overall benefit of doing so.

I also used a product called SpaLite from Bioguard which is a Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione product with a relatively neutral pH.

In my experience, I haven't concluded that the benefits of shocking are outweighed by the concerns of pH fluctuations nor the need for constant balancing. I used a bromine concentrate which didn't effect my readings in the way you describe.

[windsurfdog]

Thanks, Steve, for the input.  I was under the impression that the "10x" premise was a generally accepted rule...your experience makes me doubt it now.  Would you think that ozone use would contribute to CC/contaminate oxidation?  If so, that may explain my observations with my water.  Anyway, I also agree that TDS is certainly miniscule when considering a shock but pH plays a larger role if using MPS instead of dichlor.

I know it can be rather difficult to distinguish CC levels even with a Taylor kit but I still want to see at least a small difference between FC and TC readings before shocking.  The only exception is when a visitor brings a detergent-laden swimsuit in and then a good shock, as well as additional filtration, seems to help the foaming.

[Renee]

Man, I'm with ya on the visitors bringing detergent-laden swimsuits in my hot tub.  I'm about ready to buy a bunch of different sized swimsuits, and check them out to guests before letting them in the hot tub.  That detergent can really mess with the water balance!  I remind them when they leave to RINSE their swimsuit in the washing machine....soap is not needed, and makes it very difficult to balance the water.