Questions for hot tub owners

[lago]

We just had a hot tub delivered this week and now I have a lot of questions. I think the guy at the pool supply place has an answer for everything and wants to sell me everything.

When filling the tub, is it necessary and if so, what do you use to 'shock' the water (not 110v or 220v). I will be using Bromine instead of chlorine.

I will be using AquaChek test strips. What is the sequence that you try to get the water balanced...pH first, bromine, hardness, ect.

How long do you let the filter cycles run?

I am sure I will have more but thats all I can think of now.

Thanks

ken

[Tom Slick]

Look into ozone water treatment. No chlorine or bromine!

http://www.delozone.com/index.php?op...d=15&Itemid=42

[jbrain]

From the info on the various pool/hot tub forums the test strips don't have a huge following. Expensive, and not real accurate from what I've read.

I had a Cal Spa a while back. Loved it. I treated it bad. Really wasn't taken care of as I should have. Had the Ozonator, also used Bromine. But still was a nice spa.

I would just get the very basic test for ph and chlorine/bronine and I bet you will be in good shape.

Enjoy your hot tub!!

[eccentrictinkerer]

Check out this link:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=7408

I started using bleach, borax and baking soda to manage my pool chemistry three summers ago. I've never spent less and or had better luck keeping the chemistry balanced. My pool store guys hate me.

This last summer I put a salt water chlorinator ($169!) in the pool along with 110 lbs. of salt and spent zero dollars on chlorine.

I have a round 16' homebuilt pool made of plywood (with a store-bought PVC liner). I heat the pool with a 2' x 20' PVC solar heater on the roof of my 2 1/2 story house.

[BrianStark]

We just had a hot tub delivered this week and now I have a lot of questions. I think the guy at the pool supply place has an answer for everything and wants to sell me everything.

When filling the tub, is it necessary and if so, what do you use to 'shock' the water (not 110v or 220v). I will be using Bromine instead of chlorine.

I will be using AquaChek test strips. What is the sequence that you try to get the water balanced...pH first, bromine, hardness, ect.

How long do you let the filter cycles run?

I am sure I will have more but thats all I can think of now.

Thanks

ken

Here are my thoughts...

There are a variety of brands of products to use. Not sure which one is better than another. I settled on using HTH Spa products, available at WalMart and Ace Hardware simply because I am in those stores fairly often and prices seem reasonable, and the products work fine.

When filling my hot tub I add HTH Spa Brom-Start to establish a bromide reserve (notice I wrote bromide, and not bromine). I then add Brominating tablets to establish the right bromine level. The tablets take a while to kick in. I will usually have to test the new hot tub water daily for a few days until the bromine level looks good.

I use 6-way test strips from HTH to check levels. Water hardness is always within range, so I don't worry about that.

When using bromine, you want to use an non-chlorine oxidizer as necessary to remove organic contaminants. Depending on how often you use the hot tub is a factor in how often you need to oxidize. During winter months, my hot tub is not used that much, so I tend to add an oxidizer infrequently. During warmer months, I will add oxidizer about once every 7 -10 days.

You will also want to keep some pH increaser and decreaser on hand. Defoamer is also good to have on hand.

Regardless of what brand of chemicals you settle on, check out their web sites for detailed product information so you understand all of the options facing you when you are in a store.

Hot tub filters are not always cheap -- you can get deals online. I have bought filters from hot tub supply companies and also from amazon.com. I can usually save about 40% on the cost of a filter by buying online rather than at a local store. I change filters on my hot tub 1-2 times a year, all depending on condition of filter. HTH sells a product to treat a hot tub filter. I have used that... pull filter out, place in clean 5 gallon bucket, fill with water and add treatment chemical, leaving filter there preferably overnight, then replace in hot tub.

You will want to change your water based on usage. Mine is not used too much, so I only change the water 4 times a year. If there are times when the water is too cloudy, and I can't seem to get the chemicals to clear up the water, I will drain and refill. Much less aggravating than trying to guess why the chemicals are having trouble.

I try to ensure that the filter cycle runs for at least 1-2 hours each week.

HTH has a web site here: http://www.archchemicals.com/Fed/HTH

Hope that helps!

Brian

[lago]

Brian...thanks for the info. Guess I need to check Ace since there is one close by. Never thought to look there for pool chemicals.

Ken