Implication of swimming in Hot Tub with CC of 1ppm

[Garet Jax]

Hello all,

My family just got into town and are looking forward to swimming in the hot tub. I just ran my measurements and realized that my CC is 1. I know I need to shock it to reduce it to .5, but if I do that it will be at least 2 days before it can be used. What are the implications of continuing to use the hot tub for a week or two until the family leaves and then shocking it?

PS - There are kids in the mix here. 10, 7, 2.5 and < 1 year olds.

Thanks.

 

[dmanb2b]

Possibly unsanitary coupled with skin irritation, red eyes, strong chlorine smell, especially with the little ones. Quickest remedy would be a drain and fill and re-balance, but not sure how big your tub is...sorry

 

[Stuamurr]

As an alternative to the above, you can bring it upto shock level at the end of the day, it is safe to swim at below shock level so if your shock level is 20ppm, it is safe to bathe at 19.99ppm FC you can retain a high FC residual throughout the festive period before commencing with either drain and refill or full shocking of the spa once they are gone, it may even be sufficient to put things back to normal just by running with a higher FC level. Are you satisfied that the high CC level is consistent and not just a blip? as it may be a case in a spa that if for example you tested just after high use you would read high CC's which may well drop a short while thereafter.

Regards
Stuart

 

[chem geek]

If you don't smell significant chloramines, I wouldn't worry about the 1 ppm CC. It could just be something innocuous like low levels of chlorourea. It usually indicates that you've gotten behind in dosing or that the CYA level built up making the chlorine less effective. Remember that chloraminated tap water has 1 ppm CC (monochloramine) and sometimes higher. We recommend getting rid of CC because normally you shouldn't have any if the water is properly maintained and sometimes the CC can be irritating.

Was your FC near zero? If so, then the CC will likely go away if you just raise the FC up a bit even if you don't shock to higher levels. Just keep an eye on the FC and if it drops too much, add more chlorine.