Bought a used hot tub about 8 months ago and for the past few weeks the mist from the tub is making my wife and I cough. We thought we might be putting in too many chemicals, but after a little online research it appears we may have some bacteria/biofilm causing the issues. Anyway, after further research it seems I need to decontaminate my tub. I've been researching about superchlorinating the tub, but I use Leisure Time Renew as a non-chlorine shock treatment and I couple that with a Nature2 cartridge. So I'm wondering if I can superchlorinate when I put the new water in, even though I use the Leisure Time Renew for my shock treatment. Is there anything else I should be doing? I'm going to try using the Spa Flush before I drain the water. Any thoughts all around? Anyone else start to cough when their tub is dirty? Thanks in advance for your time.
Can I superchlorinate a non-chlorine hot tub?
- Thread starter babyfett
- Start date
When was the last time you changed the water?
You can superchlorinate the new water without issue.
You can superchlorinate the new water without issue.
I probably changed the water a month or so ago. Not too long. But I believe I started coughing a little before that water change and it's gotten progressively worse over time. That's why I think the pipes might need some decontaminating. The only maintenance I've ever done is a daily shock, nature2 and some extra shock when I change the water. I did this procedure on my old spa that I had for over ten years and never had an issue. Do you think it's contaminated? Do you think a spa flush and super chlorination will help? Thanks!
Did you decontaminate the spa when you go it?
Do you use anything for a residual sanitizer?
Do you use anything for a residual sanitizer?
I did not decontaminate it when I got it and I've never sanitized it. Didn't know I was supposed to do any of this. Is there a good way to do all this or a forum sticky I can turn to? Thanks again!
It's water under the bridge now, but it should have been decontaminated when you first got it.
You need a residual sanitizer in the water even with the Nature². We recommend chlorine and there's a topic in the spa and hot tubs section about How to use chlorine in my spa that should help.
You need a residual sanitizer in the water even with the Nature². We recommend chlorine and there's a topic in the spa and hot tubs section about How to use chlorine in my spa that should help.
With Nature2 you can also go with an almost non-chlorine approach using non-chlorine shock (MPS), but that's more expensive to do. Don't you have the Nature2 Spa Owner's Manual? The Dichlor-then-bleach method in the post linked in the previous post is by far the least expensive, but there won't be much need for the Nature2 with that approach.
If you didn't follow the instructions and superchlorinate to start with, then you wouldn't start the release of silver ions from the cartridge so that probably contributed to why bacteria was able to grow. Of course, not decontaminating initially could have biofilms in the pipes and not using sanitizer regularly, especially if the silver ions weren't getting released, let bacteria grow. Well, at least now you know.
For decontamination, you can use Spa System Flush to thoroughly clean out the pipes of any biofilms.
If you didn't follow the instructions and superchlorinate to start with, then you wouldn't start the release of silver ions from the cartridge so that probably contributed to why bacteria was able to grow. Of course, not decontaminating initially could have biofilms in the pipes and not using sanitizer regularly, especially if the silver ions weren't getting released, let bacteria grow. Well, at least now you know.
For decontamination, you can use Spa System Flush to thoroughly clean out the pipes of any biofilms.
Thanks everyone. Full decontamination and the addition of dichlor to my spa use has done the trick. You guys rule!