how to treat after a hot tub party

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joecooler

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Jan 13, 2019
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Longmont, CO
So my kid had 6 of his closest friends over for a party in the hot tub. I decided to proactively hit it w/an extra dose of chlorine in advance. I assume this must have been a good idea as the water still looks clean the morning after. BUT when I run the jets I quickly get a big head of foam on the surface - more than I've ever seen. When the foam starts to dissipate I can see an oily skin on the water. What is the right way to get the water 100% clean again - clarifier, shock, or more chlorine?

Thanks in advance!
 
Please post test results. How old is the water and when was the tub’s plumbing last purged?

If oils are present you may need to use something like a ScumBug to soak them up off the surface first. Clarifiers are not a good idea at this point. Chlorine will decinitely be needed but you want to be careful not to create a lot of chloramines by adding too much.
 
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I don't have my test kit yet so my results would just be off the dip stick ... is this useful?

Hardness ~250
TC ~2
FC ~1
pH ~7.6
TA ~120

Water is two months old. How do I know if I'm creating chloramines, and what would be the bad side effects if I do?
 
Also FYI in case you didn't see my other thread, spa is just two months old, this is the first fill, and I didn't know about ahh-some when I filled it so I haven't run a purge/clean cycle yet. Planning on doing that when it's time to dump this water.
 
Purge it with Ahh-Some, dump it and start over. Honestly, the water is cheap and not worth it.

Chloramines are created anytime you add chlorine to water with a high organic load to it. Nitrogenous waste from humans, aka bather waste, contains lots of sweat which is full of urea, creatinine and other amine containing chemicals. When chlorine hits that stuff, it creates both inorganic chloramines (mono- & dichloramine as well as nitrogen trichloride) and organic chloramines (chlorourea, etc, etc). The inorganic chloramines will go away over time through outgassing and further oxidation from chlorine. Organic chloramines are persistent pollutants and build up over time. Hot tubs will often have low CC readings at first but then, as the water ages, the CC readings creep up and cannot be removed with superchlorination. It's at that point when you should change the water out. Spa shops will try to sell you non-chlorine shock but that's just a band-aid and often causes more trouble than it's worth. Water is cheap enough and hot tubs are low enough volumes that it just makes sense to dump it and start over.

I'll wait for real test results but I suggest purging and dumping....
 
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I will purge as soon as possible, however not sure how soon I can get to it ... may be a couple of weeks. Until then should I do anything else to the water? Can I keep using it?

Re/ahh-some, I plan to purge, refill, and clean a second time to be sure I get everything - want to start out w/a nice, verified clean tub. For the second purge do I need to do all the stuff to the water - adjust hardness, alkalinity, etc - or can I just fill it, throw the ahh-some in, then empty and clean, and wait to do all the balancing until I plan to keep the water?
 
joecooler said:
I will purge as soon as possible, however not sure how soon I can get to it ... may be a couple of weeks. Until then should I do anything else to the water? Can I keep using it?

Re/ahh-some, I plan to purge, refill, and clean a second time to be sure I get everything - want to start out w/a nice, verified clean tub. For the second purge do I need to do all the stuff to the water - adjust hardness, alkalinity, etc - or can I just fill it, throw the ahh-some in, then empty and clean, and wait to do all the balancing until I plan to keep the water?
Click to expand...

Honestly, one purge, done correctly, will be more than enough. There's a user here on TFP, @Ahhsomeguy , who's actually the president of the company that makes Ahh-some. Even he will tell you that all you need is one purge. And he's very happy to help all of his customers.

You can use the tub. Definitely chlorinate it though. Follow the directions in the forum sticky on "How to use chlorine in a hot tub" and it will give you all the correct levels. The oils and human "scum" may take some time to clear out since filtration in a hot tub is generally not that great. Try getting one of those Scum-Bug things to help soak up the oily "fluids" floating on top.....and just remember, there were bunch of kids in there so lord only knows what they left behind :sick::poop::alien:
 
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Most likely body lotions and hair conditioner products from not showering before entering the tub. Let's hope that's all.....:oops::laughblue:

Kick up your sanitizer level before the purge and be sure to rinse the tub and plumbing well after the purge to remove all the surfactant prior to filling and heating.
 
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Let's see ... your title says "How to Treat After a Hot Tub Party" and your first line was -
So my kid had 6 of his closest friends over for a party in the hot tub.
Click to expand...

So you'll just have to forgive me when I say my first mental response was "penicillin!". :laughblue:

A friend had the same experience time and again and found her son's friends were often entering the hot tub in clothing, which can contain detergent/soap/fabric softener residue. Those will foam up a lot.

I'd be looking to give the hot tub a lot of chlorine bleach to oxidize things, and perhaps a bit of calcium which can decrease foaming.

Maddie :flower:
 
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