Suspected Pseudomonas Aeruginosa - Please help. Desperate.

[oregonmomtoo]

I am desperate. I have been seeking answers on this for hours. Our hottub has caused Pseudomonas Aeruginosa rash on my youngest child, despite having the Ozonator replaced as well as the hot tub was drained and filled and then disinfected with betadine. It was drained again, refilled and chlorine and pH brought to specifications. Our child was in it 2 days in a row and now she is covered on her upper chest, abdomen and upper back. It's itchy and it's red and I JUST SPENT A LOT OF MONEY TO AVOID THIS!!! What am I doing wrong?? How can I test for the presence of this bacteria and will this ever go away. I'm a very frustrated spa owner.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

What is your normal maintenance procedure? What CYA level do you maintain? What FC level do you maintain?

"chlorine and pH brought to specifications" does not mean much to us, because most people are not aware of what the CORRECT specifications should be.

I have no experience with hot tub maintenance, so hopefully someone else will swing by to help.

Have you read the "How to use chlorine in you hot tub" sticky at the top of this forum?

 

[JamesW]

Betadine disinfects with iodine. Iodine is not a particularly good disinfectant for a hot tub. In fact, it can actually reduce the effectiveness of either bromine or chlorine as a disinfectant because any chlorine or bromine would get used up oxidizing iodide to iodine.

Betadine needs to be used full strength to disinfect. If it was used to wipe down the empty tub, that might disinfect the surfaces, but it wouldn't get in the plumbing. If it was added to the tub when full of water, then it would be too dilute to work well especially on any biofilms.

Bacterial infections from hot tubs happen when insufficient sanitizer is maintained. This can happen if the level of chlorine or bromine is too low for any appreciable amount of time.

It can also happen if too much of the chlorine gets locked up by high levels of cyanuric acid. This can happen from excessive use of dichlor.

A similar thing can happen if too much of the bromine gets locked up by dmh from excessive tab use.

If bacteria is allowed too much time, it can form biofilms in the plumbing and equipment.

Biofilms provide a reservoir of bacteria that can continue to reinfect the bulk water any time the sanitizer drops below a safe amount.

I would suggest a full decontamination including a purge product to clean out any biofilm.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/9670-How-do-I-use-Chlorine-in-my-Spa-(or-pool)

Ahh-Some

See this chart