Combined chlorine

[Newdude]

Ah, I see. So if a few cherry blossom petals were floating around, or a small piece of moss fell in and sank to the bottom, or a pine needle was in the filter compartment… that could give me 0.5CC?

I never saw any affects from anything recently dead. Like fresh leaves or pollen. Theyhad to be decaying for the FC to try and sanite it. Its more likely some sweat, body oils or fluids, laundy detergent, resdiual hair products, soaps, exfoiliated skin, bacteria or a host of others worked its was out from behind the headrests.

@Mdragger wasn't kidding when she said it was people soup. 1 person in a 400 gallon spa is the same as 50 in a 20k pool. Thats a full on rager party, just by yourself. And the spa is 104 degrees and exfoiliating you. Its chicken noodle you soup. There will always be some sort of residual something needing sterilizing, long after you are out. Bring to SLAM per the FC/CYA Levels and you will have a head start on whatever you left behind.

but a foam kick board probably isn’t oxidizing, because it’s designed to withstand use in chlorinated water, right?

Algae grows a biofilm over itself to protect it from harsh enviornments. If it can grow on the spa/pool walls, it can grow on anything.

My one concern is that a high FC level might deteriorate the cover and headrests faster

Any level of the FC/CYA Levels is equal, and the chlorine is less harsh than tap water.

I’m trying to trade off:

Open the cover for 15 mins twice a week in the sun and you'll be fine. Verify the FC is good before, and SLAM after. Periodically check that the SWG () is doing its thing.

 

[Mdragger88]

Ah, I see. So if a few cherry blossom petals were floating around, or a small piece of moss fell in and sank to the bottom, or a pine needle was in the filter compartment… that could give me 0.5CC?

There was a windstorm yesterday, and quite a few cherry blossom petals fell in while we were using the tub. I caught most of them, but some of them were behind the headrests, some clung to the cover and fell in when the cover was put back on, etc. So maybe that’s part of what was going on.

We also have a kick board that floats around like a life raft, holding the 8 rubber duckies and two decks of waterproof cards… but a foam kick board probably isn’t oxidizing, because it’s designed to withstand use in chlorinated water, right?

I have a SWG, so it’s easy to keep the FC level up in between uses. My one concern is that a high FC level might deteriorate the cover and headrests faster… so I’m trying to trade off: electricity costs (from cover being open to let the chlorine off-gas), cover replacement costs (from high sustained FC), cost and time of water changes (if lower FC leads to higher CC sooner), and water quality/comfort (less pleasant with higher CC or really high FC).

I would remove everything from the spa when not in use. If for no other reason than to not be an attractive reason for a child to want to reach in (hopefully your spa is also secured when not in use). Also wouldn’t want anything obstructing flow when you aren’t watching. We clear all the toys from our pool when not in use as well for these reasons even though we have locking gate.
BTW- check your rubber duckies- have u ever cut one open? Often times they are full of uck That’s been my experience with most bath toys like that anyway & they are almost impossible to keep clean since the water inside can never fully come out. I’ve had a pool SLAM Process really drag on because of an algae filled diver toy that I left in the pool (obviously I didn’t know it had algae at the time) - fished it out & passed the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test that night.
The foam kickboard will likely deteriorate pretty quickly if left in the spa anyway- then you’ll be fishing tiny foam bits out. I have banished foam toys from my pool for this reason.
I have a scum bug that i keep in the spa but it stays in the cup holder when we’re not using the tub.

 

[Tembroke]

BTW- check your rubber duckies- have u ever cut one open? Often times they are full of uck

Yes, we've been through this with bath toys -- icky black stuff inside, totally gross. For the hot tub, we purchased new duckies with no holes, e.g.:

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Republic-Rubber-Ducks-Octopus/dp/B07N27647Q/

The foam kickboard will likely deteriorate pretty quickly if left in the spa anyway- then you’ll be fishing tiny foam bits out. I have banished foam toys from my pool for this reason.
I have a scum bug that i keep in the spa but it stays in the cup holder when we’re not using the tub.

Hmm, I guess I'll have to find another place to store the toys, then. I liked having them float on their little raft under the cover, so they were protected from wind and mud and being eaten by dogs. I'll find an alternative.

 

[Mdragger88]

My hot tub is quite small so I really haven’t had to worry about toy storage lol. All our goggles & stuff are stored in the giant deck box on the pool deck not far away. I do keep my little mini liquid chlorine bottle & measuring cup on the little shelf under my patio coffee table (next to the hot tub) & I have a decorative metal bucket under there that holds sunscreen, a little dichlor container, measuring spoon, my fish tank scooper, bug spray etc. so nothing gets wet or blows away. So far the dog has always left everything alone . I wanted the fancy storage steps but they were out of stock when I ordered my tub