Ozone & silver ion questions.

[COWBOY]

I have a 2008 H/S jetsetter that is equiped with a ozonerator & i am currently using a silver ion cartridge. What is the full purpose of these two items & do i still need to add sanitzer even with both these items?

[Vanguard]

Ozone is an oxidizer.  It is continuously "shocking" the water.  It doesn't provide as high a level of oxidation as does dichlor or MPS, but the ozone helps keep the need to shock with those things down.

The silver ion cartridge is used to kill bacteria.  Silver is a good algaecide.  We have a silver based algaecide for pools that works great on killing algae.  Since the cartridge sits in the circulation filter, you are getting a steady dose of bacteria killing going on.  Once the bacteria is killed, the ozone then shocks out the nasties to leave you with clean water.  

They work great in concert with each other.

You will still need to sanitize.  Even though the silver ion is now classified as a sanitizer, it doesn't have enough power to kill everything you put in the water.  That is where the dichlor comes in.

When using ozone and silver together, your need for sanitizer is reduced.  You can't easily say how much it is reduced because that all depends on usage.

[maashrink]

I have an additional question on this subject- My husband and I will have to be away from our hot tub for a minimum of 3 weeks at a time, and would like to reduce the amount of maintenance we have to do each time we come back.  We were thinking about a service, but one of the local spa dealerships suggested that we remove our bromine filter and just use a silver cartridge and ozonator.  I understand what was said in the previous post, but is this combo effective for a long period of coverage without any additional treatments?

[hottubdan]

I have an additional question on this subject- My husband and I will have to be away from our hot tub for a minimum of 3 weeks at a time, and would like to reduce the amount of maintenance we have to do each time we come back.  We were thinking about a service, but one of the local spa dealerships suggested that we remove our bromine filter and just use a silver cartridge and ozonator.  I understand what was said in the previous post, but is this combo effective for a long period of coverage without any additional treatments?

Do you have a 24 hour circulation pump?

[Vanguard]

I have an additional question on this subject- My husband and I will have to be away from our hot tub for a minimum of 3 weeks at a time, and would like to reduce the amount of maintenance we have to do each time we come back.  We were thinking about a service, but one of the local spa dealerships suggested that we remove our bromine filter and just use a silver cartridge and ozonator.  I understand what was said in the previous post, but is this combo effective for a long period of coverage without any additional treatments?

If your answer to HotTubDan is yes, then yes, this will help.  I used to go for a few weeks without even looking at my hot tub and I'd come back to a crystal clear, fresh smelling tub.  I used ozone and silver with a slight Dichlor boost before I was leaving.  Never had an issue.

[maashrink]

No, it is not a dedicated circulation pump, instead one of the pumps runs four two hour cycles a day, or 8 hours over a 24 hour period.  We could always change the number of cycles or duration if that would help.