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[Edit: My wife told me her Dr. said she had a skin ‘sensitivity’ to Bromine, not an ‘allergic reaction’. I have changed my references to ‘allergy/allergic’ to ‘skin sensitivity’. The link says that ‘skin sensitivity’ (irritant contact dermatitis) shows a reaction, rash, in 1–2 hours (which she had), whereas ‘allergic contact dermatitis’ is an immune system reaction that takes from 24 to 48 hours to show symptoms. The ‘skin sensitivity reaction’ was quite severe for her, so it is still a significant issue. This article talks about testing patches of skin on your arm, like a dermatologist would do. I’ll have her ask her Dr. if he/she can recommend a chlorine % solution to apply to her arm as a chlorine sensitivity test, rather than dunking her whole body in a bathtub of chlorinated water!] Before we go through the hassle of draining the tub and restarting with Chlorine as the sanitizer instead of Bromine, to see if Chlorine causes my wife no skin rashes, we want to fill the bathtub with hot water and simulate the chlorine water conditions that would be the same as if we convert the hot tub to chlorine. So here are our questions: 1) Is it common for some people to have a skin sensitivity reaction to Bromine, but NOT to Chlorine? What are the odds of this? (I’ll have her ask her Dr. about this too.) 2)How do I create a bathtub chlorine environment to match a hot tub's? [We may hold off for a possible arm skin patch test for chlorine if that is an option.] a) Would I need to reduce our tap water's 370 ppm TA (Total Alkalinity) down below 70 ppm (our hot tub's current TA is 40 ppm), then get the PH adjusted between 7.4- 7.7 before adding Chlorine to make the test valid as close as possible to apples to apples to the actual hot tub? b) How much of 7.5% chlorine to initially add to say ≈ 30 gallons of bath water to get an in-range chlorine level? c) I only have a Taylor K-2106 'Bromine' test kit. Is there a workaround test that will tell me the effective Chlorine level I need to measure? If I can't do that with my K-2106 kit/reagents, what reagents would I need to buy to perform a proper Chlorine level test for our experimental bathtub test? 3) Are people with similar Bromine sensitivity able to completely avoid skin irritant sensitivity reactions of rashes and bumps by simply taking Antihistamines like: 25mg Benadryl or 10mg Cetirizine HCI (Zyrtec or Amazon Generic), 10 mg Loratadine (Claritin or Amazon Generic)? If so, what doses and how long before and after? The Background: We purchased a brand-new Bullfrog A6L (310 gals) Hot tub with the only time it was filled was at OEM water test at the time of manufacture, three months prior. The tub was purged, water balanced, Bromine Reserve added, Chlorine Shock done, PH & Bromine levels have been kept in range. It causes my wife extreme rash and bumps, but I have no skin reactions at all. Our initial soak (103º F, PH 7.6, Ttl. Bromine 6ppm, TA 30 ppm) caused her an extreme skin irritation reaction where she had a rash and bumps on her trunk, arms and legs. I am using a Taylor K-2106 'Complete (FAS-DPD bromine)' test kit. She said the pain and itching for a week was worse than her prior bout of Covid. It kept her awake all night. A week and a half later we let the Total Bromine drop to zero, PH ≈7.6, TA 40ppm. The water temp was only at 93º F. The skin irritation reaction was nowhere near as strong, but she still felt it coming on 1–2 hours after her soak. She took one Zyrtec 10mg Cetirizine HCI Antihistamine at that time and for two days following and the rash dissipated. I have had no skin irritation reactions at all. Installation, thorough Purge and refill process: Three weeks ago, after the brand new hot tub was installed, I filled it (310 gals) and did a purge using AHH!some. Ran jets on high w/ air for 30-minutes, wiped away the green sludge from the shell above the water line and scooped a few small patches from the water. I then removed the four Bullfrog JetPaks and cleaned the green from them that was at the waterline. As an extra precaution, I then ran the jets on high for a second 30-minute period. There was only a small amount of green residue to wipe away this time. I then sprayed ≈ 50 gallons of water into the tub via each jet to rinse any lingering residue of green biofilm and AHH!some purge. I siphoned out then used a shop vac to completely drain the foot well as well as vacuuming each JetPak supply pipe and all the lowest fixed jets. I have rinsed the filter once per week. I am pretty sure we can rule out ‘hot tub folliculitis’. Thank you, Dave

I have had a 340 gallon hot tub since 2008, and have had varying degrees of success with sanitizing with either bromine or chlorine, e.g. using the BBB method. I have come to this forum many times for advice. My success has varied. I have both the Taylor bromine and chlorine test kits. I have decontaminated a few times using Nitro’s guidelines. Even with this and good attention, I found a hot tub rash developing, and it did not go away no matter how attentive I was about daily measurement and water replacement. Often the Pool Calculator did not give me the results estimated, and I am not sure what the missing factors were. My spa also has an ozonator, but it’s difficult to be sure how well it is working... if at all! My eventual conclusion: the irritation was NOT due to bacterial buildup, but increasing chemical sensitivity. A friend recommended enzyme treatment and gave me a bottle of Clarity Spa. This did the trick. No more chemical rash, the water is clear without odor, feels very nice, and is economical. You too may be frustrated at having to become a “chem nerd” and also want to avoid chemicals which may well be absorbed in through your skin. Children are especially more sensitive and this may be a safety consideration for your family. I’ve put together an outline of the points I learned. I am not a paid shill, just a very satisfied consumer, and know others may share my concerns. This information compiled from talks with Cal Robinson, industrial engineer with over 20 years experience over a wide spectrum of water quality issues and solutions. Enzymes have been used for decades commercially to remove biofilms from large tanks holding potable water. Enzyme products were developed in 40’s to control excess algae or fungal growth in greenhouses; when hot tubs came along in 80’s they applied it here. Clarity compounds their own enzyme mix from large scale commercial producers of enzymes, according to what has been found to be most effective for spas. Enzymes are NOT “sanitizers” by the federal definition of “killing” bacteria. Enzymes DO work by eating the food in the water that bacteria live on. No food, bacteria die off. Eventually even hidden bacterial deposits disappear. For legal reasons vendors of enzymes cannot say that the enzymes “kill” or “eliminate” bacteria; instead we say “We help create an environment in which bacteria cannot survive.” To make a good transition it is wise to do a cleaning to get rid of hidden deposits and residues, particularly from bromine and Biguanides. If left these will defeat the enzymes and you will be dissatisfied. Thus Cal developed Crystal Clean pre-treatment. How long will a treatment last? Just as with sanitizers [chlorine, bromine] this depends on the number of “bather loads [bL].” More people using tub more times = more bather loads, and product is used up sooner. The advertised estimated usage is 40 bather loads per bottle. I as a single user, using tub daily for 15-30 minutes, am getting 60 BL or days out of one bottle of enzymes. I have kept the same water for 6 months and it is still crystal clear. See photos at http://cista.net/spa. This means I went through 3 bottles. Fresh water has been periodically added to top off as spa may go down 2” in a week to 2 weeks. A single bottle costs $24 + S&H = $35. Buy 4 and get free shipping. Thus this is costing me about $0.50 per day. You can read more at their product site: www.claritywaterproducts.com <>· Other items: if you have more bather loads, you can shock with non-chlorine oxidizer like MPS for water clarity. MPS will not damage the enzymes, but sensitive skin may not like it if you shock too much. Usage: ½ oz MPS. When using chlorine pH is advised to be between 7.2 – 7.8. However the water will feel better at 6.5 - 6.8 and the enzymes work just fine at this pH. Muriatic acid is cheap effective way to drop pH. Effectiveness requires a good circulation of the water so adjust filter cycles until you get the effect desired. I put my tub on Econo Mode to save on heating, but this let a film develop on the tub walls. It has a slimy feel but brushes off easily in the water. IMPORTANT NOTE: this is NOT a biofilm, but rather a mostly sodium mineral deposit from the water. Normally the minerals bond and will be caught in the filter. If there is slime build up it is due to lack of circulation. I am now increasing the amount of circulation per Cal’s instructions to prevent this. States with high sodium-calcium like Nevada have this phenomena. Depends on where you live. Tests will show that the total bacteria count is very low. You can get a single professional Millipore bacterial count kit online, e.g. at: http://www.apswater.com/shopexd.asp?id=5857&product=BS1001%20Bacteria%20Sampler%20Test%20Kit

I have a 375 gallon portable spa with an ozonator. The spa is about 3 years old and I have always used chlorine for shock about once a month combined with nature2, a built in ozonator, and MPS after each use and water changes every 4-6 months. The water is beautiful, pleasant, and clear. My problem is that my daughters and I get terrible eczema/rashes after using the spa. We always are sure to shower immediately after getting out and even apply a moisturizing cream like Eucerin after using the spa, but we still get itchy rashes after using the spa. After a long bath, no such rash occurs. I am a physician, and to all those who may suggest pseudomonas or something, this is not an infection, rather this is a hypersensitivity reaction of some sort like eczema, but is entirely associated with spa use. Also, I can promise that no one is urinating or defecating in the spa. My question is what people suggest to change up my routine? Should I put in less or less frequent MPS- probably do about 4 tablespoons after a use and we use the spa once a week? Switch to Bromine? Use only Chlorine for maintenance? Get rid of Nature2? Use some other chemicals? We love going in the spa, but the rashes after make it unpleasant. Thank you!