A Dischord of Symmetries

Things finally begin to settle in the new place. There's little necessary bits and pieces that are missing, but I'm at least starting to figure out what those little bits and pieces are. The largest piece to come together recently was the preparation of the hot tub for actual use.

For the past month, it's been a matter of getting everything unpacked, things organized, routines established, and preparation for Sectionals. On Sunday, after having returned from Burlington, I decided to spend some time getting acquainted with what needed to be done to get the hot tub operational (being sore, tired, and desirous of a soak in aforementioned hot tub was a great motivation for this). The first step, as I saw it, would be a matter of getting the hot tub clean. The owners of the house I'm living in had ignored the hot tub for a year, and this had allowed it to become a cold pool of floating odds and ends (an unlucky spider, long gone to Davy Jones locker, floated morosely along the bottom). I needed to drain the tub, scrub it, and refill it. Then the mystical process of treating it with whatever manner of chemicals such things need could begin.

My initial thought was that I was going to have to work with my land lord to start getting it siphoned, and then bail as much as was left with a bucket. Being home on a Sunday afternoon, with some time to kill, I thought I'd invest a little time with the bucket. Two bucket loads of water in, with no noticeable impact on the water level, I was discouraged. I needed some mechanical process to do the grunt work. I pulled up the benches in the sauna to start poking at the pump and the associated workings of the hot tub.

About a week before I had found that the water level could be raised by virtue of a pipe with a valve that was apparently tied into the house's inbound supply of water from the city. I traced the pipe into the pump and noticed what appeared to be a gate of some sort along the way with three settings. One went back towards the inbound pipe (this was where the switch was currently set). Another went directly into the pump. The third I traced further along to a set of pipes reminiscent of the U-bend in drains under sinks. This is where I decide to pursue a course of action that could either end up a) breaking the pump b) flooding my apartment c) do nothing or d) greatly speed the process of emptying the tub. I flipped the switch around to third position and watched. Simply setting the switch was not lowering the water. I found the switch for the pump and turned it on. Eureka! Suction! The hot tub's filter started sucking greedily at the water. In less then five minutes, the water was down past the filter, and continued to drain. Obviously one of the plastic bits down towards the bottom also acted in that capacity. In practically no time, the tub was empty.

Also, green. Evidently the year had not been kind to it. I grabbed some old towels to sop up the remaining water at the bottom. I stepped into the tub and slipped a bit on the film that seemed to cover everything. After sopping, I decide that I need to take a break from the chore.

I approach it again the next day (Monday). On my way home from work, I stop at a store that specializes in spas and wood stoves and speak with one of the folks there about the process of cleaning and balancing. Evidently, I just need to make a solution of water and whatever the tub is shocked clean with and scrub away. He also gives me a container to get a water sample to bring in, so they can help me figure out what chemicals I might be missing to get the hot tub going.

Once home, I slog back into battle with things foul, with the aid of a bucket and an over sized sponge. I scrub surfaces! I lustily throw about liquid death (for algae and what not), and don't stop til the surfaces of the hot tub are blue once more. My hands reek of chlorine, but another step in this cycle is done. I suck up any liquid that ends up in the bottom of the tub with a shop vac that I borrowed from a friend, and once everything is pristine, I flip the switch back into it's original position, turn the faucet on, and start filling the tub. It fills quickly with the cold water that's inbound. I grab a water sample and set it aside to bring to the store the next day (Tuesday).

Day 3 in my battle against the powers of filth and cold water is much simpler. I stop by the store and after about 20 minutes am sent on my way with 3 bottles of spa chemicals, and a list of instructions. I pour the specified amounts in, and leave the pump on for the first time. This should bring up the temperature, and bring the hot tub within the proper ranges of pH, alkalinity, etc... Now all that's left is to grab another water sample the next day, bring it by to figure out if any additional chemical tinkering is necessary and then tinker.

Today is the fourth day. I worked from home and at lunch headed over to the spa store with a water sample (which is now at a toasty 105 degrees, huzzah!). The guy at the store pulls out his various reagents and starts testing. 6 tests later, the water in the tub is said to be perfect (no more tinkering!) and I'm sent on my way with some maintenance instructions.

Once home, I head over into the hot tub/spa room, move the chemicals to a safe place (a closet that Lance won't get into. You know how young dogs are when bored and alone... They'll sniff, chew, or lick anything) and sink into the water for the first time. All the work from the past couple of days evaporates in a haze of heat, bubbles, and steam.