Spa water change out question

[Lykly]

I have been so busy with the first year of pool ownership, I really did not think much about changing out my spa water. Now that it's colder, I went to dip in my spa and realized / remembered the water is probably 10 months old. I have not ignored it, I have always kept it in perfect condition, and it still is crystal clear and water balanced perfect. My question is, hopefully It is not unsafe water? For the past summer, the spa was used very little, maybe 3-4 times a month, only by me. I have had it converted for the past 4 years to a saltwater tub, and have the saltron mini in it.


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[tim5055]

It's fine. The water doesn't go "bad".

 

[pabeader]

I hate to admit it but when I had my hot tub I never changed the water. I rehabbed the cabinet and then ran 5 years. Had no idea that water change was something you were supposed to do. Never had any issues with it until the control unit died. I guess 15 years of service is a pretty good stint.

 

[pooldv]

Well maintained tub water doesn't need to be replaced. Our tub water has gotten sort of stinky a couple of times and that is when I've changed it. I think I've changed the water 3 times in 4 years.

 

[Lykly]

Wow, THANKS, this is good news. Water is clear and no unusual odor so "rock on"! LOL


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[Ahhsomeguy]

I recommend you folks read the article in Aqua Magazine's April edition called "Spa Soup" why you need to change spa water. Written by Bob Lowry, a very respected water chemist and recreational water expert. Please don't give information to forum users that is not right. When you read this informative article you will be changing your hot tub water on a regular schedule. Go to AQUAMagazine.com and punch in Spa Soup in the search window.

 

[tim5055]

I recommend you folks read the article in Aqua Magazine's April edition called "Spa Soup" why you need to change spa water. Written by Bob Lowry, a very respected water chemist and recreational water expert. Please don't give information to forum users that is not right. When you read this informative article you will be changing your hot tub water on a regular schedule. Go to AQUAMagazine.com and punch in Spa Soup in the search window.

If you read Bob's work you will find he he is a friend of what we teach here. Some of his work is labeled "This document contains information obtained from authentic, reliable and highly regarded sources." These sources are forums such at TFP and some individual members such as chem geek (Richard).

The article is long on what "could" be in the water and short on how to test what "is" in the water. He has consistently been in agreement that FC should always be kept as a ratio to CYA, but in this article falls back on the old industry standard "Free chlorine levels should be 3 to 5 ppm; if using bromine, the levels should be 4 to 6 ppm." That he then gets into "electronic water testing"and "chemical dispensing" tells me he is writing this for a commercial audience. A residential spa with one or two users a few times a week is a far cry from a commercial spa that has dozens of users on a daily basis.

We generally teach a dichlor/chlorine method of spa maintenance How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?) and as such the FC should be kept in ratio to the CYA.

I do agree that water should be changed, but in a properly sanitized residential spa it is not an emergency to change it today because you have not done it in 6, 8 or even 10 months.

 

[pooldv]

Agreed, water does need to be changed periodically. But, the old three months is just not warranted. Especially if you flush with Ahh-some when you do the water change. I haven't changed my water since my post 6 months ago and it is still great. I'll probably change it soon since we are in the pool a lot more than we are in the tub these days. I'm really down to changing my water once a year nowadays. I use the same How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)? process Tim mentioned and it works extremely well if you are diligent in keeping FC above minimum at all times and certainly never let it drop to 0. That is when bad things happen on hit tubs. And pools too for that matter.

 

[Ahhsomeguy]

Why have we not seen the great postings from Chem Geek? He is absolutely the best guy in the chemical arena. His posts were helping thousands of people. Does anyone know why or if he is still active? Seems like he dropped off the end of the earth. Hope all is ok.

 

[tim5055]

Why have we not seen the great postings from Chem Geek? He is absolutely the best guy in the chemical arena. His posts were helping thousands of people. Does anyone know why or if he is still active? Seems like he dropped off the end of the earth. Hope all is ok.

A quick Google search shows that he is still active around the web. I agree, he is one of the best.

I believe he is involved with a company developing automatic pool/spa treatment solutions. I can see two possibilities:

- He is just too darn busy to post, life does get in the way sometimes.

- He does not want to "confuse" postings on an internet forum with his day job. There are many issues involved when posting in an internet forum that mixes your day job with an avocation and some of them can be negative. The ability to patent products, protection of trade secrets and insider trading are three that quickly come to mind.

I believe he still participates with The Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code (CMAHC) and submits papers to the CDC and EPA.

He is always welcome to post here and has provided a lot of the scientific back-up for the ideas Ben Powell dreamed up many years ago.

 

[chawkins99]

I changed out my water for the first time last week despite it still looking good.

We bought the spa (a Hotspring Sovereign) new in November and the water was still clear and clean. We added the ACE swg and am very pleased with it. It works well for general maintenance of chlorine levels but I still supplement with chlorine after use.

I ran Ahh-some through it for an hour which produced loads of foam but very little else. I don't believe this had sat in a warehouse for months as the dealer already had it on order so I don't think it had time to accumulate gunge in the plumbing.

The only difference I noticed after the refill was the water was clearer when running. Before the water change, it was more cloudy while running (lots of micro-bubbles) but cleared within 30-60 seconds when stopped. Never really suffered from foam.

I have wondered about the obsession with regular changes. After all, if we can take a pool from a swamp to oasis using nothing but chlorine and filtering, why is the spa any different? Sure, it's more concentrated but still, nothing like some of the green mush we've seen in pools.

 

[pooldv]

That is mostly correct. Water is water, chlorine is chlorine and bather load is bather load. As long as FC is maintained above minimum for CYA at all times you will be good.

But, there are two big differences between a spa and a pool that make it much more likely to get out of control more easily and more often. Hot water and low water to bather ratio. Either of these two factors can contribute to very rapid bacterial growth if FC ever dips. So, more attention is required in a hot tub.