Duke123

D.sebens i have been having similar issues. One year ago, I bought Intex portable spa to test if my wife and I would really use it. No jets, just bubbles. First timer at this and the water quality was all over the map, but I never got any rash or itch. We used 4-5 times a week. Last summer in August, we decided to get a full hot tub. I have had all kinds of rashes, eczema outbreaks and a few really nasty infections that will leave marks for the rest of my life. I have tried chlorine and bromine and am now going to try salt water. What could have changed in one year? one thing helped, I don’t use jets directly. Every time I used jets, I get a rash where the jets hit. When the temperature is over 100, I get a strong rash. Under 100 degrees and it is much less. I bought The lamotte spin touch water tester and have learned a ton about water balancing but have yet to find a solution to my rashes. As a side note, my blood sugar has been much higher than the prior year and I am sure this is a big contributor. so I decided to start all over, even though this is brand new tub. 1) drain tub and clean completely 2) Vaccuum out all water. 3) fill tub FROM house water which has three stage filter with UV. 4) Tested water. Alkalinity and ph good, no metals, no cya, no phosphate. added a little calcium to make water a little harder. NO CHLORINE or bromine was added or anything to adjust PH or TA. basically this was bath tub water. Used same day for one hour with no jets, water temp 98 degrees and had no reaction or rash. After 1 hour of use with my wife. put in 2 oz non chlorine shock. tested water that night. To my surprise, FC was still 0 but TC was 20 ppm and ph jumped from 7.6 to 8.4. All I did was add non chlorine shock! I waited till TC came down. next morning TC was 2. How can TC be 2 if I never added chlorine and it was 0 the day before and all I used was 2oz of non chlorine shock. turns out non chlorine shock interferes with TC measurement and gives false readings. FC is not impacted. so now with TC at 2 and adding a little ph decreaser of about 1 oz, I try tub again. Temperature is 101. Now, 3 days later, I am still itching like crazy, sleeping maybe an hour or two a night and covering myself with prescriptions from doctor to alleviate itch and rash. My wife had no reaction at all and was totally fine. As an additional note. I tested the water the morning after our last use and did not add any chemicals after the last use the night before. Both FC and TC are back to 0. The whole test period had no smell and crystal clear water. my blood sugar has been between 200 and 350 Should be somewhere between 100 and 165. Now yesterday, I found out I got shingles so tub is out for awhile. I would recommend you 1) check with a doctor. 2) keep temperature down below 100. 3) avoid direct jets. 4) shower immediately before and after with anti bacterial soap. 5) ensure swim wear and and robes are cleaned. Chlorine and bromine do stick to clothes. 6) I found bromine to be less offensive, but had to turn off ozonator and up light. It seems to messes up free bromine. Non chlorine shock had same interference effect as with chlorine. 2oz and TC jumps to 20. 2 days later, 4.0. Free bromine always .02. Could not tell how much bromides were in tub and Combined Chlorine/Bromine was all over the map from 0 to 30. Could not get Free Chlorine/Bromine to get above .02 even when Total Chlorine/Bromine was also .02. Was reading that UV light destroys bromine.. Starting all over again this week but switching to salt water chlorine generator with ozonator and uv light. I would love to hear anyones thoughts on this rash issue also. john