Should I try to reduce my CC from .5 (spa smells like chlorine when we fire it up)

[Sunbaby]

Hey guys. I have been searching on the forum and found a lot of great information on the topic - but I wasn't sure I was putting the information together correctly for my situation.

My pool and spa are connected (same water). The only time the spa is isolated is when it is in spa mode (maybe 2X a week for an hour each time) In addition to being connected - with a constant spillover into the pool, I also have a large waterfall that pours into the spa with water from the pool - so my spa has a really good sharing of pool water.

My pool is still fairly new (about 3 months now) my numbers have been consistent. I only switched over from pucks to bleach a few weeks ago (had to go through pool school first). So my CYA is higher than I would have hoped for - but manageable according to what all you good people have been sharing with me.

My CC has really always been at .5 - never higher - occasionally no pink at all. When I searched that - what I saw was, if you aren't having issues with anything (like cloudiness, algae, etc.), then .5 fine.

BUT the last few times we fired the spa up - it smells really harsh. I am wondering if I get rid of my .5 CC will that help?

In the mornings when I test:

FC is 4.5-5, I bring it up to 9-10 using Bleach (still learning the size of my pool) - right now using 7000 gal to test.
CC .5
PH 7.6
CYA 60
TA 60
CH 300​

I have also read about lowering FC in hot tub before using - but as a newbie - I am more worried about keeping my FC at the right levels to keep away algae - so I haven't really considered that yet.

 

[wjr75]

Make sure to run all of the spa equipment once a day to get fresh chlorine in all the pipes. My program turns on the spa for 15 minutes a day to flush the spa main drains. I also run the jets for 5 minutes and blower for one minute during this time.

 

[duraleigh]

I am not a spa guy so take this for what it's worth.

1. Little chance of algae in a spa. It's covered most of the time and algae needs sunlight. It can certainly appear but not as likely as a pool.

2. It will be difficult to get rid of that .5 CC's. Your FC is ALWAYS working on contaminants in your pool.......it's impossible to keep them out. That means you really have to accept that .5 ppm is about as low as you can get. it may go to ZERO on one test but be right back at .5 the next time you test.

TFP teaches that you treat a .5 ppm CC test as if it's zero.....just disregard it. A CC test result of 1.0 (I know you know this) is when you perk up and start paying attention and get some more chlorine in your pool.

Lastly, I really like wrj75's method of running the spa everyday to keep fresh chlorine and water in all the pipes. If you are not doing that, that may eliminate your issue.

 

[Sunbaby]

Thanks guys. I think I can set my spa to run on auto. Just have to figure out that equipment board!

Thanks again!

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi Wendy
Thats great info you provided, but if I could as 1 question?

Have you performed a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test? (maybe I asked that in your construction thread, but I dont remember).
To revisit the OCLT with ya,
Test FC after it gets dark
Test again in the a.m. before sunrise
You shouldn't have more than 1ppm FC loss.

Hey guys. I have been searching on the forum and found a lot of great information on the topic - but I wasn't sure I was putting the information together correctly for my situation.

My pool and spa are connected (same water). The only time the spa is isolated is when it is in spa mode (maybe 2X a week for an hour each time) In addition to being connected - with a constant spillover into the pool, I also have a large waterfall that pours into the spa with water from the pool - so my spa has a really good sharing of pool water.

My pool is still fairly new (about 3 months now) my numbers have been consistent. I only switched over from pucks to bleach a few weeks ago (had to go through pool school first). So my CYA is higher than I would have hoped for - but manageable according to what all you good people have been sharing with me.

My CC has really always been at .5 - never higher - occasionally no pink at all. When I searched that - what I saw was, if you aren't having issues with anything (like cloudiness, algae, etc.), then .5 fine.

BUT the last few times we fired the spa up - it smells really harsh. I am wondering if I get rid of my .5 CC will that help?

In the mornings when I test:

FC is 4.5-5, I bring it up to 9-10 using Bleach (still learning the size of my pool) - right now using 7000 gal to test.
CC .5
PH 7.6
CYA 60
TA 60
CH 300​

I have also read about lowering FC in hot tub before using - but as a newbie - I am more worried about keeping my FC at the right levels to keep away algae - so I haven't really considered that yet.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Should I try to reduce my CC from .5 (spa smells like chlorine when we fire i...

It's not uncommon to get a harsh chlorine smell from warm/hot spa water. Higher temps and the aeration of the jets causes the chlorine to out gas more so then when swimming in cooler pool water. When chlorine out gases and hits your nasal passages, it can easily form chloramines inside your nose and make you think your spa smells. This is one of the reasons why some people don't like running chlorine in hot tubs because the smell can be strong.

So, Sunbaby, the trick I use is to run my spa WITHOUT the SWG running, have a good soak and then, when finished, crank it up to full blast (ok, 5% is the max output in spa mode) and let it run for 30mins after I exit. I will often turn the temperature down and, if I have it on hand, I'll add 4oz of bleach. That is more than enough FC in the spa to kill everything and oxidize organics. The next day, the pool kicks in and all that spa water gets mixed into the pool. It's a 650 gallon spa attached to a 16000 gallon pool, so even if I have CCs in the spa water, it's practically nothing compared to the overall water volume. I imagine your setup is similar.

Doing that, I have never had algae or bacteria growth. I know you, like the rest of us TFPers with OCD including me, are trying to be super clean with your pool/spa. But don't overthink it too much. You put that spa on your pool build to have fun. So let your hair down a bit and tempt fate...the pool will be fine


PS - the thing you really want to do before a spa dip is to drop the pH and get it on the low side (7.4 or so) as the aeration of the spa drives the pH waaaay up.


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[Sunbaby]

Hi Wendy
Thats great info you provided, but if I could as 1 question?

Have you performed a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test? (maybe I asked that in your construction thread, but I dont remember).
To revisit the OCLT with ya,
Test FC after it gets dark
Test again in the a.m. before sunrise
You shouldn't have more than 1ppm FC loss.

Dave,

I have not performed this test - but I will read about it today and maybe do it tonight

- - - Updated - - -

It's not uncommon to get a harsh chlorine smell from warm/hot spa water. Higher temps and the aeration of the jets causes the chlorine to out gas more so then when swimming in cooler pool water. When chlorine out gases and hits your nasal passages, it can easily form chloramines inside your nose and make you think your spa smells. This is one of the reasons why some people don't like running chlorine in hot tubs because the smell can be strong.

So, Sunbaby, the trick I use is to run my spa WITHOUT the SWG running, have a good soak and then, when finished, crank it up to full blast (ok, 5% is the max output in spa mode) and let it run for 30mins after I exit. I will often turn the temperature down and, if I have it on hand, I'll add 4oz of bleach. That is more than enough FC in the spa to kill everything and oxidize organics. The next day, the pool kicks in and all that spa water gets mixed into the pool. It's a 650 gallon spa attached to a 16000 gallon pool, so even if I have CCs in the spa water, it's practically nothing compared to the overall water volume. I imagine your setup is similar.

Doing that, I have never had algae or bacteria growth. I know you, like the rest of us TFPers with OCD including me, are trying to be super clean with your pool/spa. But don't overthink it too much. You put that spa on your pool build to have fun. So let your hair down a bit and tempt fate...the pool will be fine


PS - the thing you really want to do before a spa dip is to drop the pH and get it on the low side (7.4 or so) as the aeration of the spa drives the pH waaaay up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am not sure how I could make that work - I am a Bleach girl and my spa and pool water are the same - unless I am in spa mode. BUT - you just answered my question as to why my PH has been rising this week - we have been in the spa every night for about an hour! I run my waterfalls about 5 hours a day (we like the sound of it), but even with that - my PH has been stable for 2 months - until this week! Now I know! Thank you!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Should I try to reduce my CC from .5 (spa smells like chlorine when we fire i...

I am not sure how I could make that work - I am a Bleach girl and my spa and pool water are the same - unless I am in spa mode. BUT - you just answered my question as to why my PH has been rising this week - we have been in the spa every night for about an hour! I run my waterfalls about 5 hours a day (we like the sound of it), but even with that - my PH has been stable for 2 months - until this week! Now I know! Thank you!

I suppose you could run an experiment if you're up for it - start your spa and measure the pH, TA & FC (CCs if you feel like it). Then crank up the heater and get it to your desired temperature. Let it run for 30mins and then take a water sample and retest for all the same parameters. Make sure not to add any sources of chlorine while the spa is running.

If the FC drop is enough, then you figure out how long it would take to lower the FC level prior to getting into the spa. There are chemical methods of reducing the FC using 3% hydrogen peroxide that could be used to dechlorinate the water slightly prior to getting in, but it would be nicer to just let it come down naturally if the heat can do that for you.

The rambling point I'm trying to make is that it is perfectly ok to drop the FC of the spa prior to use (as long as the people using it are sufficiently clean to your standards) and then raise it back up afterwards to kill pathogens and destroy organics. The downside of pool/spa combos like what we have is that the water parameters you target for a large volume pool are not necessarily the same parameters you want in a small volume spa. So you have to do some extra work to get the spa where you want it to be for comfort and enjoyment.



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