bromine or chlorine

[Vinny]

" considering I can get close to a gallon of bleach for $2 or a 5 lb bucket of dichlor for $30."

You mean, I can just add liquid bleach....like the kind I use for laundry....and not have to fuss with going to a pool store for chlorine?

Well, yes and no. NO - you can't use it right off the bat but ... YES - once you get to 30 PPM stabilizer you can use it. How do you get to 30 PPM stabilizer - add the equivalent of 30 PPM dichlor. So you need to keep either a mental or physical track of the amount of dichlor you use and then you can switch to bleach. Be aware now that some laundry bleach has become suds - ized in that it isn't 100% bleach but a combo of bleach and detergent - you can't use that at all. You also want unscented regular bleach - it used to be when it was 6.25% I added 1oz to 100 gallons for 1 PPM chlorine but now that bleach is 8.25% that amount is a little lower or you will add more chlorine. As a matter of fact the best way to super duper chlorinate a tub is to grab a bottle of bleach, pour it in and run the pumps for an hour; you can get some ahh-some as well while doing it ... super clean pipes and totally disinfected.

FYI - if you tell your dealer about using bleach it may void your warranty. It used to be written into manuals to not use it.

Two more things ... you don't need to use pool alkalinity increaser to raise alkalinity - use baking soda and you don't need to buy PH up use borax. In my tub, I just use baking soda and it raises both ... my pool does not react the same way. BTW, these two things may void your warranty as well but I'm not sure.

[orlando1]

I've tried both, and for me bromine via a floating brominator was way easier and cheaper. I got tired of having to add chlorine every single time I used my tub(which is pretty much daily). With a floating brominator I only have to refill it once every 2(sometimes closer to 3) weeks. And for me I barely notice the smell. It's at least not any more smelly than when I used chlorine. I'm not saying one method is better than the other. What works for some will not work for others. But for me it's  the closest thing to set it and forget it. And once you get use to it, you won't have to check your ph levels nearly as much. I now check mine once a week and that's only because I'm a little paranoid. I could easily get by with once every two weeks.

[BullFrogSpasMN]

I've tried both, and for me bromine via a floating brominator was way easier and cheaper. I got tired of having to add chlorine every single time I used my tub(which is pretty much daily). With a floating brominator I only have to refill it once every 2(sometimes closer to 3) weeks. And for me I barely notice the smell. It's at least not any more smelly than when I used chlorine. I'm not saying one method is better than the other. What works for some will not work for others. But for me it's  the closest thing to set it and forget it. And once you get use to it, you won't have to check your ph levels nearly as much. I now check mine once a week and that's only because I'm a little paranoid. I could easily get by with once every two weeks.

the part in bold is the most important thing to draw from this thread, there are a multitude of options in which to sanitize a spa: Bromine, Chlorine, Silver Ion/MPS, Baqua/Biguanide, Salt based chlorine and bromine generators, etc. not 1 single system can claim "the best" they all have pros/cons you just need to simply find the one that works best for YOU not what may work best for someone on an internet forum...just my .02

[Vinny]

the part in bold is the most important thing to draw from this thread, there are a multitude of options in which to sanitize a spa: Bromine, Chlorine, Silver Ion/MPS, Baqua/Biguanide, Salt based chlorine and bromine generators, etc. not 1 single system can claim "the best" they all have pros/cons you just need to simply find the one that works best for YOU not what may work best for someone on an internet forum...just my .02

This is so true ...

[Racenut]

Thanks for all the additional information.

[Jostudly]

Okay got six bromine tablets in my new floater and set the number at 3 on the dial for a 300g tub. My current bromine is at 4.5. Should I add the floater or will this put my bromine to high? Also do I need to add a oxidizer shock if my bromine level is good?

[Jostudly]

What is the quickest way to lower bromine levels other then using the tub and taking the floater out? Is there a product that you can add to lower the bromine?

[chem geek]

You can use chlorine/bromine neutralizer which is sodium thiosulfate.

[Jostudly]

I am getting my water tested at the dealer every week as I do not rely on the test strips as they cannot give me an actual true reading. My bromine is now at 5.2 but ph is 8.2 a little high which i find changes up or down every few days. Is the alkilinity just as important as the ph? Also I have been reading of diseases that can be caught from hot tubs? How off would the ph, bromine and alkalinity levels be to get legionnaires disease or a skin rash?

[Quickbeam]

Your TA is more important than PH. At least it is in this respect. It is your TA that controls what the PH does. You really should learn how to properly balance your water. It is a bit of effort the first couple of times, but after you get it down it is not that difficult. One of the best articles I've ever seen on balancing water can be found here: http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13634

[chem geek]

As for hot tub rash/itch/lung and Legionnaire's Disease, maintaining at least a minimum disinfectant level at all times is the most important.  Of the other water parameters, the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level affects the active chlorine level and next the pH.  For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Dichlor, it also increases the CYA by 9 ppm.  The other water parameters don't affect the disinfection, though can lead to other problems such as calcium carbonate scaling.

[Vinny]

I want to add that hot tub rash in one person doesn't mean that your tub is causing it. One time one of my son's friend went into my tub with him - she got a rash and he didn't. She swore she got hot tub rash, I am fanatical about anyone being in either my pool or hot tub if I suspect there is a problem with the water, I suspect she was sensitive to something in the water ... Could have been the heat itself. Could it have been bacteria, yes I didn't have my water checked microscopically but a really bad biofilm or outbreak ... I doubt it.

[chem geek]

On another forum (see this post) I kept track of 36 hot tub rash/itch/lung and similar incidents as well as one person who nearly died from Legionnaire's Disease.  Many of those reports had people go to Doctor's for diagnosis and a few had cultures taken.  While it is true that some people get what they think is hot tub itch when it is actually just a skin sensitivity to hot water jets or a reaction to some chemical, bacterial infections don't manifest themselves in the same way as described in this link.

The trend was pretty clear that insufficient disinfection was the primary reason whether that was from using "alternatives" or letting the chlorine get to zero for too long or using Dichlor for too long (building up too high a CYA level without proportionally raising the FC level).

[Vinny]

Chemgeek,

I quickly read the post but didn't go into any of the posts you listed. I did try to get into the link of chemical vs bacterial rash indications but it wouldn't open (I'm on a tablet). My question would be of the people who got the rash, were any of them soaking with people and they were the only one who got it? I do realize that a break in the skin could cause one person to get a rash and another person wouldn't.

I do follow Vermonters way of soaking but I was lucky enough to be on Doc's website when he was an active member so I followed it and was able to ask questions. I can't say that my son's friend didn't have hot tub rash but I guess anything can happen.

I suspect a lot of problems occur due to newbie lack of knowledge and we were all newbies at one point. Again, I don't know how many of those posts were newbies or tubbers without water care knowledge vs experienced tubbers or people with water care knowledge.

[Quickbeam]

I do follow Vermonters way of soaking but I was lucky enough to be on Doc's website when he was an active member so I followed it and was able to ask questions.

Hi Vinny,

Just curious - what is the "Vermonters way of soaking"?