I've just taken over a Hot Springs spa. I'm pretty sure it's an older Prodigy/Home Spa, probably mid to late 80's.

I just had to replace the circ pump and now it's running really good.

I'm looking for some suggestions on maintaining the water. I went to a local spa store and this is what they sold me.

1) 1 bottle of Leisure Time "Metal Gon". He told me to put this whole bottle in when I fill the tub, which I did.
2) 1 bottle of Sun 1" chlorinating tablets (Trichloro-s-triazinetrione, 99%, with 90% available chlorine). I also bought a dispenser for the tablets. It's currently set at about 2 1/2 slots open.
3) 1 bottle of Leisure Time "Spa Up". (Active Ingredient: Sodium Bicarbonate. Says it's for raising pH and total alkalinity of the water) He told me to add a cap full of this weekly.
4) 1 bottle of SeaKlear Spa Chlorine-Free Shock. (Active Ingredient: Potassium Peroxymonosulfate 45.2%, Inert Ingredients 54.8%, and Active Oxygen 4.7%) He also told me to add a cap full of this weekly.
5) Instatest test strips
6) He also gave me a bottle of Hasachlor (Active Ingredients: Sodium Hypochlorite 12.5%, Inert Ingredients 87.5%). I think he said it's a liquid chlorine of sort. He said to not use it much, but I could use it in a pinch if I wanted to. He said to dump in a cup and a half if the spa gets a lot of use in a day.

I added the Metal Gon when I filled the tub. I then filled the chlorine dispenser with tablets and let that sit in the spa. My initial test strip looked good after adding the Metal Gon. My pH and Alk were on the high side a little, but not out of the good range. My 3 kids used it 2 days ago and made it pretty cloudy. So, yesterday, I shocked it with the SeaKlear and now it looks really clear again.

My main question is, is this a fairly good routine? I've read some negative things about the floating dispensers, so I wanted to check that.

I'm also interested in possibly going with the Dichlor (sp?) chlorine and the household bleach route. From what I've been reading, this seems like the most cost effective route. Are there benefits to going with this route? (The smell seems to be less this way.) Any problems going with the solution?

I'm just looking for some advice, any help would really be helpful.

Thank you!

Trichlor tablets in a hot tub?

Yikes!


That's going to put your chlorine level through the roof, as well as bottom out your PH.

Get rid of the tri-chlor tablets and feeder, and just toss in 1/2 teaspoon of sodium dichlor chlorine before and after each use. You'll never smell any cholorine, and it won't affect the PH.

If you use the tablets, you're sure to ruin equipment, have a stinky hot tub, and burn the spa cover.

It is VERY chlorine smelling. Would I still shock weekly with what I have if I go the sodium dichlor route? Or as long as I put in a 1/2 teaspoon before and after, I shouldn't need to shock?

Do I need to drain and start over to start using the sodium dichlor?

Thanks again!!

Bump

I would drain it just to get rid of all that stinky water.

Yes, you'll still need to shock once every couple of weeks. You can use sodium dichlor (1 teaspoon/100 gallons of water) to shock, or Lithium hypochlorite makes a good choice to shock as well.