Best Chlorine/bromine Free Chemicals For Hot Tub?

[eilee]

I am wanting to switch to a chlorine/bromine free system for my hot tub. I am thinking about Cleanwater Blue, as our local spa dealer sells it and we like them. Does anyone have anything negative to say about it, before we make the switch. If so, is there another system you would recommend that doesn't require too much maintanence?

[Nitro]

IMHO you won't have much luck with a NO Chlorine/Bromine system. But if you must I'd recommend Nature 2 instead. It uses Silver and MPS (non-chlrine shock). However it still recommends using Chlorine as a shock.

[eilee]

IMHO you won't have much luck with a NO Chlorine/Bromine system. But if you must I'd recommend Nature 2 instead. It uses Silver and MPS (non-chlrine shock). However it still recommends using Chlorine as a shock.

Can you say more as to why I won't have much luck?

Also, why nature 2 over cleanwater - becasue of the non chlorine shock?

[chem geek]

Cleanwater Blue is talked about in this thread. The use of copper ions is not EPA approved as a pool or spa disinfectant by itself; the EPA registration number on the Cleanwater Blue product is as a pesticide, not a disinfectant which is a much stricter and more specific standard. Copper ions alone kill bactiera and other pathogens too slowly to be called a disinfectant under EPA DIS/TSS-12 (this standard is also used for spas, not just pools). The MSDS for Cleanwater Blue shows it is copper sulfate pentahydrate (with some special binding molecules). By the way, the manufacturer of Cleanwater Blue, David Williams & Co., doesn't have any EPA registered products which tells me that they are using a "common" registration as shown here and this chemical is found in 839 U.S. products as shown here (most are algaecides). If you can look at a bottle and post the EPA registration number, then I can look it up more specifically.

Note that copper ions do nothing to oxidize bather waste (mostly urea and ammonia from sweat and urine) so you either need a strong enough ozonator or need non-chlorine shock (MPS) to be added after every soak -- or, of course, you could add chlorine or bromine as the oxidizer and get appropriate sanitation as well. Note that the Cleanwater Blue Quick Start Guide refers to adding non-chlorine shock AFTER EACH USE. In that sense, it is somewhat similar to N2, though not exactly (see below).

If you really do not want to use chlorine or bromine, then Nature2 is a safer bet because the silver ions in Nature2 will quickly breakdown some of the most irritating part of non-chlorine shock (MPS) and also make it more effective as a sanitizer. The combination of Nature2 with MPS is the only disinfectant combination approved by the EPA as a disinfectant (i.e. that passes DIS/TSS-12) that does not require one of the three EPA-approved standard disinfectants: chlorine, bromine or Baqua/biguanide/PHMB (the N2 instructions say to use chlorine for shocking "as needed").