Best way to use DiChlor in swim spa

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ckelly14

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Feb 17, 2017
13
Daniel Island, SC
New to the forum and to owning a swim spa (1500 gallons):

Purchased a Dynasty swim spa from my local dealer. They recommended the "Simple Blue" spa system which consists of adding 7.5 Oz of "Spa Manager" and 5 Oz "Power Boost" (AKA DiChlor 56% Cl-) each week. With this method, my FCl would get very high (over 10) and wouldn't come below 5 for a day or two (My wife tries to swim every other day). Another worker at the dealership recommended splitting the dose in 2, which gets the fCl level to about 5 then dips to about 0.5 prior to the next dose. I also have a mineral based sanitizer ("Blue Stick") that I am using in addition.

Which dosing method is better?

I also have an additional question that I posed earlier. When I use both the Taylor 2006 test kit DPD chlorine test, as well as the LaMotte colorQ electronic test kit (also DPD) , the "pink color" produced by the reagents gets "pinker" over time, leading to different values the longer I wait. I assume I should read these ASAP?

I also noticed the dry reagent used for the Taylor kit gets clumpy (although I store it inside my house) and often takes longer to dissolve. Is there a 100% liquid version of this test?

Thanks
 
We do not recommend the use of "mineral sanitizers". Please read the follow links -

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

Alternative sanitizers and pools--The Truth!!

The pre-packaged spa chemicals are almost always more expensive than just using the dichlor-bleach method. They also typically add chemicals to the water that your spa does not need. The mineral sticks may contain copper or silver that, if left to get high enough in concentration, can cause staining of the spa surfaces. If your DPD test is getting more pink over time, then there is some sort of interference going on likely from one of the packaged chemicals you are using (additional oxidizer form non-chlorine shock) OR from the "mineral" you are adding to your tub.

I suggest you read the first article and use that approach. It is cheaper and easier to use than the spa store way and you will avoid a lot of the problems that crop up when following pool store advice.

Good luck.
 
Reading the article, it certainly looks like I need to add chlorine almost on a daily basis, and "shock" the pool once a week. Need to pick up some bleach!

About the spa manager, here's what it contains:

Simple Blue Spa Manager is a simple once a week treatment all in 1 bottle!

  • Water softener
  • Super oxidizer
  • Water clarifier
  • Scale inhibitor
  • Balance manager
For use with Simple Blue Power Boost. Compatible with ozone and mineral purifiers.

Do I need any of this stuff??
 
Honestly if you follow the dichlor-then-bleach method and you are careful to not let the FC drop to zero, then shocking is not something you will necessarily have to do. Your testing will tell you if it is needed.

The Simple Blue system is based on some fundamentally unscientific information. It primarily relies on a copper-zinc mineral system to act as a sanitizer even though neither of those metal ions are good sanitizers. Neither will kill bacteria at any rate that is acceptable to CDC disease transmission standards. And that it what you need in a hot tub. So they get around the fact that Federal law prohibits them from marketing that as a sanitizer by including some dichlor Shock in their program which is an EPA approved pool and spa sanitizer. They then add in all those chemicals you list (specific chemical formulations unknown) none of which you need. Finally they add in some MPS non chlorine shock to help oxidize bather waste.

None of what they have formulated will work any better than just using chlorine so you're paying a lot of extra money for nothing. This is how they make their money and how you will eventually wind up with lousy spa water and a metal stained spa.

You already have the K-2006 kit so doing the dichlor/bleach method is a no-brainer.


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One other recommendation if you're spa has been running low on chlorine for a while - you might want to do a spa purge of the plumbing system using Ahh-some (Ahh-Some Water Cleanser for Your Pool, Hut Tub, Jet Bath, Swim Spa and Washing Machine -). Biofilms and other "gunk" can form in plumbing when the FC gets too low and those films become a reservoir of bacteria and constant FC demand. Eliminating them can be very beneficial.

I have no idea how big your swim spa is or how frequently you change water in it but, if you are going to dump the spa water at some point, you might consider using Ahh-some first to purge the plumbing and then start fresh.

Up to you.


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Not sure about swim spa functions, consult the owner's manual.

As for it being new, that's often just as bad. Spas are all tested at pressure and under full water load at the factory and then drained for shipment to a spa store where they often sit for months before being sold. The plumbing is almost never fully dried and stagnant water is left in the tubing to be a breeding ground of bacteria. You can search here on TFP but even new hot tubs need purging with a biofilm remover. You'd be shocked at the "funk" that comes out of "new" plumbing....if your swim spa was purchased as-is and not built from scratch on your property, then I'd be suspicious if the cleanliness of the plumbing.

At 1500 gallons, that's a lot of water to dump for a purge/clean. As I said, you might get the Ahh-some and have it on hand for when you do consider changing the water.

By the way, do you have any idea how much copper is in your water? You may not want to switch to bleach before dumping the spa. Bleach could cause the copper to scale out of solution and stain the spa.


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ckelly14 said:
I have never had copper tested. I assume there is some copper in my mineral sanitizer that I will be disposing of...
Click to expand...

Ask the pool store to test it. You don't want to add bleach if the cooper level us too high or else you risk staining.


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Went to the spa store where they have electronic testing:

Ph 7.9
Cl: 0.23
Ca: 200
Alk:100
Cu: 0.1

The copper is in the normal range so I assume that chlorine bleach would be OK. I'm concerned about how quickly I am going through chlorine and how often I have to add acid. Chlorine level was 3.5 yesterday before I went for a swim. Ph was 7.6 yesterday.

I am seriously considering adding bromine with a floater system. Pretty busy guy and I'm not going to have time every day for testing and adding bleach.

Any thoughts...?
 
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