Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

:Thanks for all the info...Vinny and Mert. I believe I figured things out, with your help. What started the confusion:

Years ago, I had an early model Sundance....and I sanitized with Bromine only. Always had cloudy water and lot's of foam. The tub was not equipped with ozone, so I added it on...and the ozone ran 8 hours a day, and ran through the main/entire jet system via venturi. The ozone was then the "only" sanitizer I used, and my water was always perfect. my current tub has the 24circ with ozone and Nature 2. So my thoughts were, that this was more sanitizing than what I had on my Sundance. So, I added dichlor only post soaking, which was maybe 3 times per week, and only shocked, maybe once every 2 weeks. However my water always remained pristine clear, with little to no odors, but sometimes more foaming than desired. So here's my thought: On the Sundance, because the ozone was running through the entire jet system, all plumbing remained sanitized. However on this tub, because the ozone runs only through the mini circ, and disipates quickly...the plumbing of the main jets and the two main pumps held untreated water, and even though there is an automatic 1 minute run, twice a day, the water running through carried no sanitizer... I "have" been getting a floating, off-white soft "stuff" in my stainer basket with fabric net...and I was just assuming that it was some type of scale, coming from the plumbing...at this point...I believe it was organic nasty stuff. Since the double shock yesterday...after the 2nd shock last night, with a chlorine reading a little over 10...the level held to about 4 tonight. and I took a dip, and the water was super fresh, with no foaming....I added a 1/2 teaspoom when I got out. I'm thinking that from now on....I'll add the 1/2 teaspoon, maybe to be adjusted, every day, whether I soak or not...to ensure maintaining the 2 to 3 chlorine level....and I'll definately shock every week...... and things should be good now. My main point was....ozone through a mini circ will not offer the same sanitizing, as ozone through the main plumbing....and without eficient, maybeoverly efficient ozone....chemistry is required.
Thanks Again

My thinking it's not the chlorine but the test strips. Yes, chlorine may
: become a little less potent but not totally impotent. I have chlorine
: (same stuff) that's almost a year old and I really don't see a
: difference in readings.

: A 350 gallon tub should be reading about 2 PPM at 20 minutes after
: adding 1 teaspoon, at 3 tablespoons you's probably looking at 10 to
: 12 PPM chlorine.

: I personally don't like test strips so my advice is get rid of them! But
: if you really want to use them my advice would be buy a cheap test
: kit to see if something is off - I have done that in the past with my
: Taylor kit that I thought was off - it wasn't, my readings were
: correct.

: If your test strips are reading correctly (which I doubt) then you do
: have a problem with something eating up the chlorine in the tub. Just
: for a reference, I usually have a chlorine residue (very light pink)
: 36 hours after adding 3 PPM chlorine into the tub. I will say that it
: seems my water holds chlorine longer than most people - look for a
: chlorine residue in the AM if you soak at night.