Spa showing combined chlorine level of .5ppm after 2 weeks of shocking

[Ttub44]

Hi,

A few weeks ago I went to dump and refill my spa (bullfrog r8) and i discovered clear water but orange algae in the plumbing. After running a purge product (not ahh-some) it had no affect. I therefore filled the tub back up and set off on a journey to kill off this mysterious orange algae. The cya level was about 65ppm (requiring a shock level of 26ppm) and I maintained a fc level of about 35ppm with 12.5% chlorinating liquid, this level was maintained within a few ppm give or take for 6 days, but always over the shock level. It then dropped down to about 25ppm after me not paying so much attention, and I added a bit too much chlorine raising the level to 57ppm. This number was too high for my liking and so after about 6 hours I did a half drain and refill, reintroducing stabilizer to the tub bringing it to its original level of 65ppm and finding the fc back at around 35ppm. As I am waiting on a family member to help clean the tub I have been trying to maintain an above shock level fc, but for some reason I’m starting to struggle a bit. The fc before would effortlessly stay at around 35ppm, but now each night it seems to drop right below shock level and when I add more chlorine by the next night it has dropped again, while also showing about a .5ppm of combined chlorine now. I guess you could say I am a bit confused, the plumbing now has no visible algae anymore, and in fact the only algae that can be seen is a small amount of dead white algae that floats out of the plumbing every so often. The tub has been covered and I’ve constantly made sure chlorine has gotten into the drainage lines, the water feature, and all jets are fully open, water has never not been crystal clear this whole process. My question is, as I planned to clean, drain, and refill the tub tonight, can I simply run ahhsome through the plumbing, drain, blow out the lines, and vacuum all the water out, refill and call it good, or should I try to hit a CC level of 0 before I do? Also could CC reading be off due to such a high FC level? Thanks for the help.

 

[RDspaguy]

35ppm? Purge and drain, asap.

 

[Ttub44]

35ppm? Purge and drain, asap.

Yes, but bear in mind the cya is at 70 so shock level is all the way up to 28ppm. Could you potentionally elaborate on your response? Thank you

 

[wireform]

THIS READ

 

[Ttub44]

THIS READ

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[RDspaguy]

cya is at 70

One more reason to dump it. This isn't a pool, stop treating it like one. You don't need ANY cya in a spa, whatever they say about it softening the harshness or whatever. Fact is, cya is not permitted in public spas or indoor pools in some states per health code. The only time you should be adding any is if you use dichlor, since it's about half cya, or perhaps if using a salt cell. I recommend you drain at least 3 times per year, your spa manufacturer likely says 4, which makes it challenging to ever reach 50ppm even with dichlor. Dump it. Do so more frequently if it saves you chemicals. The only time I try to save the water is if you just put in a new nature2 cartridge. I've had customers who dump monthly. Unless you're in the desert and paying gas prices for water, draining it is often the best solution for a water problem, and cheaper than the chemicals you need to fix it. I'll drain it if my kids friends get it foamy from detergent residue. Why fight with it? It's about 400 gallons, give or take.
I have no clue what 35ppm will do to a rubber gasket, but I do know you have one behind every jet and it will cost thousands to replace them. Experiment as much as you can afford, just know that chemical damage is never covered by warranty.

 

[Ttub44]

One more reason to dump it. This isn't a pool, stop treating it like one. You don't need ANY cya in a spa, whatever they say about it softening the harshness or whatever. Fact is, cya is not permitted in public spas or indoor pools in some states per health code. The only time you should be adding any is if you use dichlor, since it's about half cya, or perhaps if using a salt cell. I recommend you drain at least 3 times per year, your spa manufacturer likely says 4, which makes it challenging to ever reach 50ppm even with dichlor. Dump it. Do so more frequently if it saves you chemicals. The only time I try to save the water is if you just put in a new nature2 cartridge. I've had customers who dump monthly. Unless you're in the desert and paying gas prices for water, draining it is often the best solution for a water problem, and cheaper than the chemicals you need to fix it. I'll drain it if my kids friends get it foamy from detergent residue. Why fight with it? It's about 400 gallons, give or take.
I have no clue what 35ppm will do to a rubber gasket, but I do know you have one behind every jet and it will cost thousands to replace them. Experiment as much as you can afford, just know that chemical damage is never covered by warranty.

Appreciate the advice!

 

[phonedave]

Your CYA is way too high, making and sort of shock levels drastically high, as you have found.

This is what I would do. Run a purge with AhhSome - remember to run your water feature so that line gets purged as well. (@Ahhsomeguy - does having extremely high FC levels impact AhhSome in any way?).

Drain your tub, wiping down the sides as it drains. At the same time pull your filters, filter holders, weir door, and jet packs. Clean all of them very well (lay the packs face down and hose the insides out - a lot).

Wipe down the interior of your tub. It cant hurt to try and flush out the internal plumbing. I stick a hose in one filter intake, and plug around the hose and the other filter intake with a wet rag. It is not perfect, but it gets water moving through the plumbing.

Put it all back together, and refill. You can do the no CYA route as RDSpaguy suggests. I myself use just about 30 ppm of CYA in my hot tub, built up using DiChlor and then bleach after, especially in the summer when we are more apt to be using it in the sunlight. Either way, a CYA of 65 ppm is way too high.