Purifying Hot Tubs with Chlorine



Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

by Jake Scully

You have to use chemicals to purify your hot tubs or else bacteria, algae and other microorganisms will grow in them. This will lead to unhealthy water conditions and the breakdown of parts. This process is known as sanitization; the most popular sanitizer is chlorine.

You can find a few different types of chlorine at a store. These include granulated chlorine, or dichlor, pool tabs, or trichlor or even household bleach, or sodium hypochlorite. Although all these options work to sanitize, the best one is dichlor because the trichlor doesn't come in quantities small enough for hot tub use and household bleach can discolor the cover and affect the pH balance. So choose granulated chlorine if that is your sanitizer of choice (biguanide and bromine are two other ones).

Granulated chlorine, the most popular choice, and is used in combination with an ozone generator. It kills viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms that live in your hot tub's water. Granulated chlorine is able to be used as a sanitizer or as a shock treatment, so it serves dual duty. You can also find it easily at your local vendor. In addition, it acts quickly but only lives for a short amount of time in your tub'swater. If you use it correctly, it will give off only slight odor and won't cause irritation of the skin or eyes. It also comes in convenient tablets that make it easy to use. Furthermore, not only does it have a completely neutral pH of 7, it also is inexpensive to use.

However, chlorine use isn't all joy and roses. The granular form is difficult to add to hot tub and needs to be done regularly. It also can become weaker or gas off in high temperature water. In addition, when you use it wrong, it emits a strong odor you and your guests will not like, or it can present a rash or itch. Finally, since varieties of chlorine exist, you might get confused over which to use: use only sodium dichlor in your hot tub.

To use chlorine, you should have it at a concentration between 2-3 PPM (parts per million). If you have a large one, you will need more chlorine. Add chlorine after you use your spa and on days you don't use it. If all of a sudden you use your hot tub more or less, you should use test strips to adjust the levels. Shock it with 7 times the normal dose to eliminate chloramines and to disinfect your water.

Chlorine is an effective sanitizer once you have the correct levels down. It's a science you can master.

hot tub

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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)
» left by Mark Neil
 2 years 105 days ago.
10 fans. Follow Mark Neil on twitter!
'Welcome to SearchWarp!'
» left by Jack H. Schick
 2 years 105 days ago.
99 fans.
Chloramines mixed with organics create cancer causing compounds- so don't add methane to the water.
» left by Jake Scully 2 years 41 days ago.
3 fans.
I wasn't really aware of this fact, Jack. Thanks for sharing!
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