What Brand of chemicals do you use

[Froggy]

We have  the Leisure starter pack with our SD Maxuus, What other chemical are possible substitutes.

I find that the Chlorine bother my eyes quite a bit, are there other alternatives.

Also our water is very cloudy after our first soak, we were told to check the water in a week I checked it last night the Chlorine was non existant on the test strip and the ALK was very low, Ph looked good.

I adjusted the Chlorine but the ALK is still low.

Any suggestion would be very welcome, Thanks

Steve

[HotTubMan]

We have  the Leisure starter pack with our SD Maxuus, What other chemical are possible substitutes.

I find that the Chlorine bother my eyes quite a bit, are there other alternatives.

You are not going to get away from chlorine completely, unless you use Baqua. I know little to nothing about Baqua, so I won't coment on it.

You can lower your chlorine use with the addition of a Nature 2 cartdrige.

You could switch to bromine. Again, you aren't escaping chlorine. Bromine pucks are 27% chlorine and bromine powders are 85% chlorine.

Also our water is very cloudy after our first soak, we were told to check the water in a week I checked it last night the Chlorine was non existant on the test strip and the ALK was very low, Ph looked good.

I adjusted the Chlorine but the ALK is still low.

I suggest a teaspoon per person per 20 minutes spent in the spa after use if you are on a dichor only regeim. You can raise your TA with baking soda.

[bulmer4nc]

When are you adding your chlorine?  Are you adding before you use the tub?  Or after?

For us, pretty much any sanitizer has some affect on our skin as there's lots of ezcema in our house.  We put in our dichlor at the end of the day and by the time we use the spa the next day there's not much left and we've found that has helped quite a bit with our skin.  Taking the same approach may help with your sensitive eyes too.

If you go with Bromine, you'll have a lot more sanitizer in your water all the time and it may end up being harder on your eyes as there is still chlorine in bromine.

[HotTubMan]

If you go with Bromine, you'll have a lot more sanitizer in your water all the time and it may end up being harder on your eyes as there is still chlorine in bromine.

Not necessarily true. Many bromine users do not use pucks and use bromine powders. True these are 85% dichlor, but one can take the same approach as you do with dichlor.

[windsurfdog]

Are you sure that it is the free chlorine and not combined chlorine that is irritating your eyes?  Chloramines (combined chlorine molecules) have a nasty "habit" of being irritating to both eyes and respitory tracts.  Please don't dispel chlorine use without experiencing a properly chlorinated and shocked tub.  Otherwise, you should probably stay away from both chlorine and bromine.

[hymbaw]

FRoggy,
  True there is chlorine in bromine tabs and powders. However, once chlorine is added to a bromine system it turns to bromine (hypobromous acid) so you wont have any chlorine smell.

The harshness on your eyes, in your case, comes from chloramines (dead chlorine). It sounds like you have a case of "chlorine demand" All of the chlorine you've added killed something and turned into chloramines. Hence the nonexistant chlorine reading. Shock with Di-chlor to get rid of the chloramines and boost your residual chlorine reading.

Or switch to Bromine (my personal favorite but you'll find many on both sides of that fence)

DEFINATELY get your total ALK. in the proper range, it will make the maintaining your tub soooo much easier.

                   good luck!!

[Ehizzle]

I would try everyone elses imput about combined chlorine first and see what you think before you make a change. If you end up still wanting to change, Baquaspa is a great product. Completely non-chlorine, a little more expensive to used but works great. Also if you can find someone that carries it there is a product called brilliance that is 100% bromine that you might like. You can go on their website, www.brillianceforspas.com and look for a store that carries it in your area if any.

[hair]

i use spa time dichlor. i get a 20 oz. bottle for $4.87 at lowe's.