Gone for long periods, switching to feeder from BBB?

[wpb]

Two years ago I installed a fiberglass swim-spa shell. Because I was building it myself, I plumbed everything identical to a pool. It's got a remote equipment pad, Jandy-Managed, DE Filter, 1x 1.75hp recirc pump, 2x 3hp jet pumps. It's about 900 gallons, never covered, in South Florida sun.

Once I got it running, first thing I did was to find this forum and begin using the BBB method. By the way, thank you to everyone here, you've saved me from some really nutty advice that I would have otherwise considered from Pinch-a-Penny, when going to buy my CYA.

Over the past year, I've had to travel/be away from the spa for several weeks at a time (or sometimes I'm home and I just don't remember to add Chlorine). Since I never use Dichlor/tabs, other than when starting, my TA and CYA generally stay put and that's all fine. My only issue is the fact that I'm always going down to 0 FC, as you'd expect, because of my horrible maintenance schedule.

Today... I read a post about someone whose had good luck with Spa Frog (I know, it's not a favorite around here, but follow me for a second...) This caused me to wonder... If I were to install a Pool Frog, tweak it to the proper setting (remember that I have a full pool-style setup and the spa is 900 gal, so the Spa Frog would get costly and would fall short) ... I would be using the mineral feature, and throw bromine tabs in the interior, rather than buying the Chlorine Bac Pacs, which is the only option for the Pool feeders.

When I get home, I'd throw in the MPS to shock it, but other than that, I'd hoped it would be kept stable once I tweaked the feeder to get the optimum numbers.

My question:

1) Does this logic make any sense? I'm not an experienced water chemist like many of the members here, and I'm a bit over my head on predicting where the issues could be, or whether this is just a pipe-dream.

2) Although the Pool-Frog unit can use pellets that are not in a Bac Pac (in their 'SaniKing' line), I'm not sure if this presents an issue when using it in conjunction with the mineral resivoir?

Sure, I could call King Tech/Poolfrog, but I'm sure they'll tell me I cannot use free tablets (since they make their money selling the BAC PAC version of the pellets)

Thank you in advance, for any suggestions!
Robert

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

I don't think you want to use bromine if it's outdoors. It can't be stabilized, so the UV light will consume your bromine. The minerals will help with algae, but not with sanitation, and can eventually lead to pool staining and stained hair and nails on bathers. A SWCG would seem to be a better answer.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Don't bother calling King Tech, they won't be able to help you.

What you suggest won't work....

You just need to be more diligent when you are home, and shock the spa before you leave maybe? Or use a floater with one tablet while your gone, then just replace some of the water when you return? What about using polyquat 60?

Or get an swg.

You don't want a pool frog, and rigging it will only cause you troubles.

Can't you just drain it if it turns green?

 

[wpb]

Thank you very much for the reply.

That's exactly what I've been doing; shocking much stronger when I get home, waiting a few days for the FC to lower, then shocking again just before I leave.

The problem with this is that I never get to use it when I'm home!

Also - thank you for the note: I had no idea bromine is not stable in UV, this changes things significantly!

Other than the exceptionally high price, is there any other side-effect to going with a SWG? For example, I assume that it does not change the TA, add any other byproduct into the water, or extra CYA, etc? I simply keep my salt at 3000 and make sure that it's circulating a few hours a day?

Speaking of circulation, I've read here (I believe, may be wrong) that I should be turning over the entire spa once daily. In my case, I leave it on 2 hours (which is roughly 28 turnovers of water using my recirc pump vs. the 1000 gallons); however, I notice many instructions claim 4 hours of circulation daily. At 2 hours, my spa seems fine; however, could it be this is contributing to my problem? I'm not leaning that way, because it doesn't seem to have problems when I'm able to maintain the schedule.

If I used a SWG, would that need to be more than 2 hours daily for a 1,000 gallon spa that is circulating approximately 70 gallons per minute?

Thank you again for the great advice!
Robert

 

[spishex]

How many weeks out of the year would you say you're gone? I'd be inclined to keep your CYA a little lower and use a rainbow spa floater with 1" trichlor tabs while you're gone. If the CYA builds up, no big deal. You can do a 50% drain and refill in an hour.

A SWG would work, but it's an expensive solution for your problem.

 

[wpb]

Thats a good way of looking at it. Do they make any smaller feeders that I can place in the skimmer? I've never been a big fan of floaters, and the last one I tried would always get halfway nudged into the skimmer.

BTW - I'm generally gone one our of three weeks, sometimes a bit longer. The problem is my schedule once I return.

Back on the SWG, so there is no down-side to going this route? I am hesitant to spend the money, but if it means that I'll significantly lower the effort, it seems like it would be a worthy trade!