How long does bleach take to sanitize the water? Suggested wait time before use?

[Tatum4701]

How long does bleach take to clean the water? When is it safe to get in after adding bleach? Do you need to wait longer if your FC has gotten down to 0?

How long do you need to wait after adding MA?

 

[JJ_Tex]

The general rule of thumb is 30 minutes for chemicals to evenly distribute for accurate testing, but it likely is much shorter than that for you to safely swim.

When you say "clean the water" is your pool green/unsanitary?

 

[Tatum4701]

The general rule of thumb is 30 minutes for chemicals to evenly distribute for accurate testing, but it likely is much shorter than that for you to safely swim.

When you say "clean the water" is your pool green/unsanitary?

No. It looks crystal clear. Sometimes it looks slightly cloudy when the jets are on, but not often.

The air quality got hazardous here yesterday, and we stayed indoors all day, and I forgot to go out and add bleach. I assume bacteria begins growing once it gets to zero, so I was wondering how long bleach takes to kill anything in the water.

 

[RDspaguy]

Once the sanitizer is thoroughly mixed and evenly distributed in the pool the reaction with contaminants begins immediately. The time it takes to eliminate those contaminants depends on the specific contaminants and the sanitizer level they are exposed to. Some taking hours or even days at low sanitizer residuals. This is why I recommend treating the spa immediately after use to give the chemicals as much time as possible to eliminate contaminants, and to start treating before those contaminants can reproduce extensively. If you have ozone you will not need to shock out the chloramines, but if not you will have excessive chloramines as a result of low water volume to bather ratio, and will want to shock often to avoid odor and irritation.
30 minutes with jets on is more than enough to mix the chemicals into the water.

 

[Tatum4701]

Thank you. I tend to test before using it. I add what it needs and wait, then also add more bleach after we use it and run the jets for a cycle. If I test again the following day, the FC will be anywhere from 1 - 3, but if don't go outside and skip a day, the FC will get to zero.

 

[Mdragger88]

Thank you. I tend to test before using it. I add what it needs and wait, then also add more bleach after we use it and run the jets for a cycle. If I test again the following day, the FC will be anywhere from 1 - 3, but if don't go outside and skip a day, the FC will get to zero.

Perhaps dosing to shock level for your cya after use would prevent it from going too low before your next use.
there are also drop in salt water chlorine generators that can reduce the burden for you as well. You would still need to add bleach when you have large/extended bather loads but it makes it pretty low maintenance.

 

[RDspaguy]

but if don't go outside and skip a day, the FC will get to zero.

That's what I would expect with ozone or uv purification. If you don't have either of those I would suggest Ahh-Some spa purge as you likely have a biofilm buildup in the pipes.