Bromine vs Chlorine

[Fkpm]

Hey guys: I did a search of forums and this topic hasn't come up in about ten years, and those older forums have links to info, which, understandably, are no longer working. So I have decided to open a new forum and see what people think and if there have been new developments in the last ten years.

I have just bought my first hot tub - a Sundance Victoria (select series) and should take delivery in about 3 -4 weeks.  My dealer is including a starter kit for chlorine but I am wondering if I should ask to swap for bromine instead.

The spa comes with a UV system "Clearray" and the Manual says that the level of either chlorine and bromine needed is therefore less.

From what I have read online, bromine, is more expensive, less iraitating, easier to apply (through a floater), and may or may not kill bacteria better (I have seen both claims).

It's my plan to use the tub frequently (my plan is daily - I have no idea if that is realistic, but that's my plan). Therefore, I guess I would like input on what people think. Are the claims I have seen online, true? If I use my tub daily, will chlorine be more likely to irritate my skin - neither I nor my partner have unusually sensitive skin, but mine does get dry especially in winter.

So anyway, any thoughts or suggestions, would be great.

[heliguy]

As a new tub owner (4 weeks) I would also like someone more experienced to weigh in on this. We (2 people) use our tub almost daily, twice daily on weekends sometimes, and sometimes have others join. Our dealer started us out on chlorine shock 3x a week and silk balance once a week. I HATE the silk balance. They tried to sell it like it's some miracle treatment but every time I add it to the tub it stinks and foams like crazy until I add foam disperser, then it just foams less. They also said "this going to help lock in your PH," but every time I bring my water in to be tested I have to boost alkilinity and decrease pH. I just don't think it actually benefits the tub in any way and just causes me problems.

I'm curious what everyones preferred product is, and what your care regiment is. We love using our tub but I hate when climbing in with my wife while bubbles pop in your face and the water smells funky.

I've followed their instructions meticulously so I'm not sure why it's not "perfect" like they sold me on.

 I definitely want to get this figured out and have products on hand for the first drain/fill.

[Tman122]

I have used both, chlorine and bromine. Yes a bromine floater is easier. But it also introduces bromine all the time, even when your water doesn't need it so you get the chlorine smell more. Dichlor (chlorine granules) dissipates quicker so less chlorine smell. But it has a high cyunaric acid content (for stabilizing) so your water will need baking soda to neutralize the acid (raise PH). Switching to liquid bleach after a month of dichlor seemed to work best for me. My water always needed baking soda to raise PH and ALK. But everyone's water balance is different.

Remember to treat water balance and sanitation as two different things. What you use for sanitation effects what you use for water balance (PH/ALK)

[bud16415]

I’m just an average guy like you guys have had our tub for a couple years the first few months with bromine dispensed with an inline frog system along with some mineral cartridge. I messed with the levels non stop. When things would get to wonky I would drain and start over. Shocking seemed to release the bromine bank and the level would get so high I didn’t want to go in for a few days. I gave up and thought about buying a salt gen called a saltron-mini as I have a friend that has one and his tub stays perfect. I still might just shy about putting all that salt in the tub and voiding the warranty or something. I switched to the daily dose method mentioned above of Dichlor. I dose to suit usage and after a couple weeks to a month watching how high the stabilizer get I then switch to Clorox from Wal-Mart. As mentioned above watch the PH and it will drop and add some baking soda. This method costs hardly nothing compared to buying those “simple” cartridges. I dropped the minerals as I don’t see they do much. we do have ozone and that runs. I shock about once a week at the most. I go by if the water starts looking dull and loses its sparkle I shock with non chlorine shock.

The only problem is going away for a week or more. If you want to know what I do I started a thread about that. Just search on threads started and there are just a couple.       

[bud16415]

Last night I failed to address the dry skin issue, winter use and the things you can do non chemically related to keep your water nice.

In the winter everything is dryer to start with and we keep our tubs much hotter. Hotter water might mean we add a little more sanitizer as stuff can grow quicker in hotter water. It is a fact the hotter winter water will cook the oils out of my skin quicker. Combine that with a dry house in the winter and the need for moisturizer is more important. This is coming from someone that never used moisturizer in my life and took almost two years to figure out I need to with owning a tub and using it daily.
With adding sanitizer after you get out you treat the water before anything has a chance to grow and you also let it do its job and be mostly gone the next time you get in. that means you are soaking in a much lower level of sanitizer and if you have sensitive skin that’s a huge benefit.
Keep your filters clean and if you can clean them with very hot water. Getting the oils and stuff off the filters soon than later I have found makes your filters last many times longer than they tell you. I piped both hot and cold water to my deck and having it right there and with a short hose and a high pressure jet nozzle. I clean my filters about twice a month and it only takes a few minutes even in the winter. Hot water is also nice to get ice off the tub and deck quickly if you live in the north.

The biggest thing to keep your sanitizer use low is take a shower before getting in the tub. Body lotions and makeup and antiperspirants, ect should be left in the shower. If at all possible hot tub in the buff, and if you can’t make sure swimsuits are just rinsed and not washed. You never get all the soap out in the laundry and the tub will. When you have guests it gets iffy and you might not be that into the idea of telling your friends to leave their swimwear at home. So ask them to at least make sure they really rinse it well and ask them to go easy on the lotions if they plan on tubbing. I don’t find it a problem to ask everyone to shower first. We have a variety of swimwear to offer others also. As careful as you are after guests I have learned to just double or more the sanitizer that night.

I have sensitive skin I have found and I have started showering before and after. My after shower is using one of the in shower moisturizing lotions. It takes a couple minutes and my skin is now better than ever. It is great if you have a bathroom really close to the tub.       

[Fkpm]

Thanks for the replies. I will definitely follow the advice about showering pre and post soak. As far as using Clorox, I hate to sound stupid, but I am a complete newbie at this. This will be my first hot tub. Do you have a link to guide me in determining how much to use?

Thanks again.

[bud16415]

Thanks for the replies. I will definitely follow the advice about showering pre and post soak. As far as using Clorox, I hate to sound stupid, but I am a complete newbie at this. This will be my first hot tub. Do you have a link to guide me in determining how much to use?

Thanks again.

The amount of any sanitizer is based on the amount of water in the tub , the number of bathers and how long they are in, the water temp to some degree and how careful you are about contaminating the water.

One of the problems with feeders is they dispense at a constant rate and usage is not normally constant.

To give you an idea our tub is about 400 gallons and normally I give it about one tablespoon of Dichlor every other day. I test with strips and I like to see the level get to about 5PPM after a dose it. if we are using the tub more I will give it one tablespoon per day. If we have a bunch of kids in it for sure every day. I like to see it back down to 1-2PPM when I get in. if I’m at zero that’s not bad but I make sure to treat it when I get out. I went thru more strips at first figuring out what it needed. Your tub needs some stabilizer it makes the chlorine work slower and helps keeping your swimsuits from getting wore out to fast and I assume your skin as well. I watch the level on my strips and when stabilizer gets up there 20-50PPM I switch to Clorox or any store bleach. Make sure it is plain no smells and stuff added just plain old bleach. I have a little cup that laundry soap came with it is about a quarter cup I’m guessing or less. I found that little measure is just about equal to one tablespoon of Dichlor. If PH drops I add a cap full of PH +. And then shock it on Sunday night normally as the tub gets used more on the weekend.

I have some defoamer  I will use if soap gets in from a swimsuit or something.

Don’t push your water too long and plan ahead for changing it. I don’t like to change the water in the middle of winter so I make sure to change it around thanksgiving as we can get a lot of snow after that. If it looks like a water change might be needed before the weather breaks I will drain it down about 1/3 and fill it back up. The dilution is the solution.

About once a week I get in and at the end of my soak I take a micro fiber cloth and polish the inside quickly. You will know when to do it the seats will just start to feel sticky. If you do it right away it comes right off. When I do that I give it a smidgen more sanitizer.

You will learn to do all this by feel and it won’t be much of a job at all.

[heliguy]

I have a question about this product: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003V5UB5K?th=1

I've read all the reviews and it is a very highly regarded product. Seems it's a one-step bromine/shock (as evident by the ingredients). I don't fully understand bromide/bromine relationship entirely and am curious about the full use of this. The most highly rated review says this is the only product they use in their spa and they just drop a tablespoon in after each use. Wouldn't that eventually build excess bromides, or once shock turns them to bromine do they not return to bromide? Maybe I'm not asking that question properly, but once again I don't understand it fully.

I found the full instructions on this retailer site: https://www.poolgeek.com/products/spa-essentials-brominating-concentrate-14-oz

Seems you pretty much just adjust your pH then add enough to bring levels up to normal, then sanitize after each use making sure not to add too much each time. Sounds about as simple as it can get plus you don't need bromide tabs, am I missing something?

[Sam]

You are correct in your assumptions, though some would argue that it's less hassle to have a floater slow release bromine than to manually add it.  Different strokes and whatnot.  The ingredients of that are chlorine (dichlor) and sodium bromide, which is converted into bromine by the chlorine content.  I usually recommend that people who use bromine tablets have a bottle of this on hand for a start-up bromide bank and in case the bather load exceeds the normal bromine level maintained.