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It
never occurred to me thirty years ago, that
what I was learning in Microbiology and
Chemistry class I would need in order to keep
my pool and spa clean.
Keeping your hot tub water sanitized
involves the use of chemicals in order to
prevent the spread of disease and prevent
damage to the tub by having water that is too
acidic. Therefore,
you need to use sanitizers such as bromine or
chlorine in addition to a pump and
micrometer-range particulate filter.
Even though there are alternative
sanitizers on the market, bromine, or chlorine
are still the primary sanitizers used today. However, it is important to know that many times they are
used in conjunction with an ozone generator, UV
sterilization, and/or a spa ionizer, also known
as a silver and copper ion generator. If chlorine is used by itself, then an algaecide must also be
used. This
is because although chlorine will eliminated
most bacteria, the majority of microbes are
resistant to chlorine.
In
order to remove those stubborn microorganisms
it is necessary to “shock” your pool and
hot tub. To
do this, you can use either potassium
monopersulfate, which is referred to as
"non-chlorine shock,” or a significantly
large dose of granulated chlorine.
Do not use either your hot tub or
swimming pool after starting the shock
treatment.
The time period for hot tubs is usually
15 minutes for potassium monopersulfate and 24
hours for chlorine.
There are some chlorine shock treatments
that state you can use your pool or hot tub
within 8 hours after treatment, however, to be
safe, 24 hours has always been the recommended
time.
Keeping
your water clean and sanitized also involves
keeping the pH, total alkalinity, and calcium
hardness of the water within acceptable
margins. PH
and total alkalinity are the important. If these are not properly maintained, then the sanitizer
(chlorine or bromine) will not work correctly
or effectively.
In addition, if the proper pH is not
maintained then this can cause any metal parts
of the tub's plumbing to corrode, become
damaged, or even completely destroyed.
The
pH of your spa/pool water should be between
7.2-7.6. If
the pH falls below 7.2, the water becomes too
acidic. If
the pH of the water is above 7.6, it becomes
too alkaline. However, having a pH slightly above 7.6, or alkaline, creates
less of a problem than if the pH is below 7.2
or acidic, which can causes corrosion of any
metal plumbing.
However, a too alkaline pH of the water
can cause the formation of scale.
In addition to eliminating any problems
with your pool or spa, having the proper pH
balance of your pool/or spa water, it will also
feel better on your skin and eyes.
Keeping
your pool and spa water clean and sanitized
will reduce the chance of spreading diseases
such as Legionellosis, as well as reducing the
potential of any litigation [*].
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