Old hot tub guy looking to learn new tricks...

[A.O.]

Ok, So I've had hot tubs for 30 ish years now, never had any real problems with chemistry or a dirty/cloudy tub just thinking on changing things up. I recently got a new 450 gal Cal Spas tub so I figured now was the time. First off I live on a well but cant fill with it directly due to too much iron in my water, my water is not hard, just has a high iron content. I do have an iron filter inline before my house, but it doesn't get it all So.. I fill my tub with my pool water, the sand filter in my pool set up removes the rest so my hot tub filter cartridges don't end up looking like a coffee filter! Weird, I know but it seems to work.
I've been doing a lot of reading here and a lot makes sense and looks like what I'm coming up with testing my water. I have a Leslies test kit but all the bottles say Tayler so I'm sure its just rebranded. Right now my tub is registering about 100 ppm CYA and I know thats to high and due to always using dry Dichlor or Triclor granules or little 1 inch tabs. I have NEVER used bleach, when you say bleach are you referring to your basic grocery store Clorox type stuff or is there a special pool bleach? I've used bleach for cleaning and stuff and it always feels kind of slimy on my hands which is why I ask about what exactly you are talking about. My pool doesn't get high on the CYA levels due to being in the sun and being a salt system.. in fact its low, right at about that 30 mark you recommend for the hot tubs.
So I'm thinking about draining my tub (into my pool maybe?) (about 14,000 gals) and restarting by refilling the tub with my pool water and starting from scratch again. Now it wont be totally scratch as there is a low level of the CYA in there and chlorine , hardness is a bit low in the pool, no sure how important hardness is in the hot tub but I can adjust if necessary.

But looking for your thoughts and maybe some guidance.. Oh, usually 2 of us in the tub, every day and twice a day on weekends.

Thanks... WOW that was long!

For kicks this is my place and what I'm dealing with... And yes , my pool and hot tub are always this clean

 

[Dirk]

Non-additive grocery store bleach and pool store chlorine are the same chemical makeup (though they might have different percentages of actual chlorine). But grocery stores also sell additive-laden bleach, which you don't want in your pool or tub. And I think it's Clorox that tends to load up its bleach with additives, like "splash-less" goo. It might be that stuff that feels slimy to you. So either buy your liquid chlorine from a pool store, or be sure it's pure bleach with no additives from the grocery store.

Enter the strength (%) of whatever you buy into Pool Math and you're good to go.

 

[Dirk]

Since your pool is missing some of its CYA and your tub has too much, on the surface it sounds like a good idea to swap water. My only concern would be whatever nasties are swirling in your tub would get dumped into the pool, but I supposed that's what chlorine is for. Given your well/iron situation, it sounds like a good idea.

The minimum recommended CYA for a SWG pool is 70ppm, so your pool is quite low.

@mknauss, what do you think?

 

[mknauss]

Small volume. I would go to shock level in tub prior to draining to pool.

 

[Dirk]

Just watched your video. Is that you, and your tub? Are you operating a drone while playing with the tub?!? How cool is that. Is it hovering that stably? Amazing.

Regarding the tub, why anyone would want an in-pool spa vs a stand-alone hot tub with all those jets and bubbles and massagers and reclining stations, etc is beyond me. I sometimes try to talk folks out of their in-pool spa plans, citing how amazing a real hot tub is compared to a concrete bowl with a concrete bench and six weak jets (yippie, everybody gets one!), but it never goes anywhere. Folks love the idea (and look) of an in-pool spa. I think you got the right idea!

 

[A.O.]

Ok, questions... How do I know if there are additives in the bleach? the bottle I have (some off brand) says 7.5% sodium hypochlorite and 92.5% other ingredients contains no phosphorus.. how the heck do I know what those other ingredients are?? And if they are additives?

I do not understand your pool math page, it says I do the swimming and you do the math.. but there is nothing there where I could enter any values or anything. there is a picture of what looks like a phone with an app on it but clicking on it anywhere does no good, it does nothing. I there an app somewhere that I can put on my phone?

Yes, Dirk , thats my ugly mug in the video and yes I'm piloting the drone. It is stupid stable, I can pop it up in the air and it will just stay there , in fact if I left it there it would stay till it ran out of battery and then go back to where it took off and just land itself! Good drones are incredible!

Oh, and I agree completely about the stand alone tub!! Not only for the reasons you cited, but if they waterfall into the pool (looks neat) but there goes all your hot water into the pool... eventually the pool would catch up ith all that heat and not be as refreshing to swim in! Heck my pool gets to warm in the summer sometimes the way it is! At that point I run the filters at night with the slide on to collect some of the coolness during the night to cool it down some.

EDIT TO ADD: found the Pool Math app.

 

[Dirk]

Pool Math comes in two forms. One is a web page, here. That link is always at the bottom of every forum page, called "Old PoolMath Webpage." It's just a calculator. The other Pool Math is an app that you install on your phone, available at your App Store. It's all the calculator goodness of the old webpage version, but also allows tracking of your chemical additions and notes and some other goodies, too. It's only a few bucks a year, it's indispensable, it helps support this amazing resource (TFP) and you'll use the heck out of it. You can try it for free and upgrade to all it's features later.

Regarding bleach ingredients, I hear ya. Same for pool salt, you can't always be sure what you're getting because the ingredients are sometimes vaguely stated. I solve for both by buying them at the pool store. And I like using the stronger % chlorine you get there, too. The only other way I know of to be sure you have "the good stuff" is to ask here about a specific brand to make sure others "OK" it. Generally, unwanted additives are mentioned on the label in "marketing-speak." Like "spashless" or "fresh scent" or things of that nature. Not exactly definitive, but if you see such words you know you don't want that stuff.

 

[A.O.]

Found the app, added my pool but it wont let me also add my hot tub...

Looked at the webpage one and ??? WHOA, does that thing come with instructions????

 

[Dirk]

On the Pool Math page you had trouble with, did you try clicking any of the four black store buttons? That should have led you to an app store. If not, please let us know, and what platform (device) you were on if those four buttons didn't work for you.

 

[Dirk]

Found the app, added my pool but it wont let me also add my hot tub...

Looked at the webpage one and ??? WHOA, does that thing come with instructions????

Not really. When you hover over things it's supposed to reveal some hints, but that's a bit thin, and iffy. You kinda play around with it and it comes to you. Or ask about it here, of course.

I'm not sure what's up with the app. It's possible you're limited to one pool until you subscribe (upgrade). I'm not sure of all the differences between the free and paid versions. @Leebo?

 

[mknauss]

With a Premium subscription to the app, you can have unlimited number of pools. I have six set up to mimic different pool set ups to assist members.

 

[A.O.]

Yeah, let me play with these things a bit and see what I come up with.. Thanks.

 

[TikiParadise]

Team: same as OP, just got an American Spa delivered yesterday; moving an installation scheduled for this pm. In the iOS version of the Pool Math app, I was able to add the hot tub: click 3 horizontal lines under upper right hand side of app and "add pool" was there. Of course, I subscribed (paid) for the enhanced version of Pool Math. Hoping that maintenance on a hot tub is just like a "small hot pool" with Pool Math !!!!

 

[A.O.]

So a couple in a couple days I'm going to drain the tub into the pool and then refill the tub from the pool, basically to lower the CYA in the tub. Once I get "new" water in the tub, I'll test to see where I stand and go from there .I got 4 gallons of "Pool bleach" at Leslies pool supply which is a 10% bleach product. and try bleach for the first time.. fingers crossed and hope this all works.

Hey, what do you guys think about "Spa Marvel" Just a gimmick or...?

 

[jimmythegreek]

It's a gimmick. You dont need much for a spa. The chlorine you got is perfect. Doea this tub have ozone or any system like salt or anything? Most come w ozone nowadays amd that changes things for what you will do amd make it easier.

 

[A.O.]

It's a gimmick. You dont need much for a spa. The chlorine you got is perfect. Doea this tub have ozone or any system like salt or anything? Most come w ozone nowadays amd that changes things for what you will do amd make it easier.

The tub does have the ozone generator, seems they all do these days. It does not have the salt system, my pool has a salt system and I love it, but all I was finding with hot tub salt systems was problems seems like so I elected not to have it.
And how does the ozone system change the way I would do things?

 

[jimmythegreek]

The ozone eats up your FC so you treat the tub like slamming a pool. With fresh water add CYA to get 30. Balance everything else out. Throw chlorine in it to get around 10ppm and let it sit overnight. Test water next day FC will be almost gone. Throw a splash in every few days amd a heavy splash after use. Check ph whenever u do ur splashing amd usually just need a little ph down that's it. Every 10 to 14 days do a full checkup on water. Super easy and simple for me. Always like bottled water. Can add a touch of salt too if u like the silky water feel. If you have 24/7 circ pump like me ozone burns FC off fast. If you have set filter cycles it will take longer to burn off

 

[A.O.]

The ozone eats up your FC so you treat the tub like slamming a pool. With fresh water add CYA to get 30. Balance everything else out. Throw chlorine in it to get around 10ppm and let it sit overnight. Test water next day FC will be almost gone. Throw a splash in every few days amd a heavy splash after use. Check ph whenever u do ur splashing amd usually just need a little ph down that's it. Every 10 to 14 days do a full checkup on water. Super easy and simple for me. Always like bottled water. Can add a touch of salt too if u like the silky water feel. If you have 24/7 circ pump like me ozone burns FC off fast. If you have set filter cycles it will take longer to burn off

Slamming a pool??? Always likes bottled water?? Would take a lot of bottles to fill my tub! ;-) And I have some salt in there because I fill the tub from my pool and its a salt water pool.

I did not know ozone ate the FC.. good to know! Thanks

 

[jimmythegreek]

Your gonna have too high a CYA level if you filled only from a swg pool. You want 30ppm

Yes bottled water as in crystal clear water.

When you slam a pool you adjust chlorine to a level in relation to the CYA in the water. I use that level per my spa gallons for dosing

 

[A.O.]

Your gonna have too high a CYA level if you filled only from a swg pool. You want 30ppm

Yes bottled water as in crystal clear water.

When you slam a pool you adjust chlorine to a level in relation to the CYA in the water. I use that level per my spa gallons for dosing

Well if you read the original post you will see I have no other option than to fill from my pool, and seeing as its a SWG pool the CYA is not that high, I know its "supposed" to be higher in CYA, but it is not.

And my pool and hot tub are ALWAYS crystal clear... just like bottled water...