Spa Purge

[bubbles]

Just wanted to know if it's a good idea to use spa purge every time I change the water in my hot tub. The chems stay balanced regularly and I change the water out every 3-4 months. I have been using the spa purge every time, just wondering if it is necessary.
Thanks so much!
B

 

[PJ]

Absolutely not! I had no idea what "spa purge" was until I looked it up and it says...."for the removal of non living organic contaminates."
All you need to do to get the same effect is to shock your hot tub. Which you should do on every fill anyway. You do use chlorine or bromine as a sanitizer?

 

[bubbles]

Thanks PJ! I used it when we first moved in ( the hot tub came with the place) and I followed the instructions on TFP for a thorough cleaning since it was new to us and the previous owners weren't stellar at upkeep. For whatever reason, I just kept doing the spa purge with every water change (can't hurt to clean out the pipes) but realized I probably didn't need to do that all of the time.
I use bromine. I don't shock either! I keep the ppm on the higher end (is that bad?) and my water stays really clear until I hit about the 3 month mark, which is when I usually just change out the water.
What would I shock with using bromine? It's my understanding that mixing chlorine and bromine is not so good from a health standpoint.
Thanks!

 

[PJ]

You can use chlorine (but just bleach or cal hypo)...do not use dichlor. Or, you can use a non-chlorine shock called potassium monerpersulfate. Just wait until the levels are down to 2.5 to 4 ppm sanitizer to get into the hot tub. Bromine tablets usually have a small amount of chlorine in them. Also, bromine combines with dead organic material and forms "bromamines"...so get into the habit of shocking regularly to get rid of them...just as you would for chloramines. This would be once a week if you use your spa daily....less often if you do not.