Dichlor/Bleach transition at anytime?

[Jfass958]

Hello,

I have had a Jacuzzi J365 for a couple months now and just flushed and refilled. I'm interested in the dichlor/bleach method.

Can I switch to this method at anytime? For example, if my CYA levels start to rise would switching to bleach allow them to lower?

 

[banditig]

You would need to drain and refill to lower the CYA level.

 

[Pool_Kid]

from what i know of it, from this site, yes, switch to bleach when your cya is around 4.
dichlor always adds to cya, hence why you switch when cya is at a certain level.

 

[nlindelldc]

from what i know of it, from this site, yes, switch to bleach when your cya is around 4.
dichlor always adds to cya, hence why you switch when cya is at a certain level.

Umm, more like 20-30. See:

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?)

 

[Jfass958]

Thanks! I had just emptied and refilled due to CYA getting too high.

What would be the best borates to use and where would I get that? Brand new to hot tubbing so trying to gather as much info as I can.

If i'm reading the PoolMath correctly, it says I would need to add 17oz of boric acid to get 50ppm?

440 gallon spa.

 

[chem geek]

Use Dichlor until you get your CYA to 30-40 ppm (20-30 is what I used to say, but since it drops over time it's better to be a little higher). After that you switch to bleach but then use Dichlor for one day each month to make up for the roughly 5 ppm CYA that gets oxidized by chlorine.

You can get boric acid (granular) from DudaDiesel or from The Chemistry Store.

 

[Pool_Kid]

Umm, more like 20-30. See:

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?)

my bad. i probably meant to hit 40. thanks for the correction.

 

[chem geek]

It still says 20-30 in the sticky so it wasn't your bad.

 

[Jfass958]

Thanks! I really appreciate it. I've ordered the boric acid and will give the dichlor then bleach method a shot. I read through a few of the detailed descriptions of the method, has anything changed or been updated? One I read was from 2009.

 

[Jfass958]

Can I start using the bleach without the borate? Still trying to get my alkalinity down.

 

[chem geek]

Yes you can use the bleach without the borates, but your pH will tend to rise faster so you'll need to watch that. Of course, since you are lowering the TA you should be watching your water chemistry anyway.

I think the Dichlor-then-bleach sticky is mostly up-to-date now except for the CYA level. It originally said to have the TA below 80 but now we say for it to be 50 ppm and the use of Borates not optional.

 

[Jfass958]

Thanks! Also, on a somewhat separate note, I've noticed that there seem to be some effervescent type bubbles forming with jets running. They seem to form a bright white "clean" looking foam on the surface that dissipates pretty quickly after the jets are off. I just refilled last Thursday and with the fresh water I didn't notice any of this at that point.

Any thoughts on what could be causing it? I'm guessing it could be a result of the 7 people that were in the tub the next day and the accompanying detergent on their suits. It doesn't bother me too much but wanted to see if a) that was normal and b) if there's any way to mitigate it. The bubbles aren't foggy or cloudy, they don't seem to be from scum or anything like that.

Here are some photos.

 

[chem geek]

Yes it is probably due to soap/detergent left in the swimsuits. You can scoop the foam to help remove it. If your CH is not 120-150 ppm, you can raise it to that level which should help reduce foaming.

 

[Jfass958]

Thanks Chem Geek, really appreciate it! If the cause were something other than detergent/soap such as deodorant or other oil based products would the foam show an oily or scumy attribute? Also, would it eventually be captured by the filter?

 

[chem geek]

The foam itself is more likely to be from soap/detergent like molecules but of course you could have other substances mixed in on the surface including plain oils. Oils on the surface can be removed by use of a scum ball that attracts/collects oil. Soap foam itself is most easily removed by scooping, but the scum ball may help with that as well (the water hating tails of soap may bind to the scum ball). As for the filter, these substances would tend to get adsorbed by a cartridge filter IF they ever got to the filter, but because these substances have long water hating parts of the molecule, they tend to stay on the surface of the water and not get circulated to the filter (unless you've got a lot of suction with a funnel of water, but that would tend to suck in air as well so is unlikely).