Chlorine Or Bromamiwhatever?

[anewby]

I am completely new to hot tubs and never did too well in Chemistry either... I have considered looking into "all natural" alternatives- as though that isn't a big marketing ploy anyway... and can't bring myself to spend that kind of money without knowing more about the benefits... and additional facts about chemicals. Can someone recommend something for people who are particularly green (pun intended) to treating water?

I am currently battling the clear green water- that smells really strong- with Spa Time Brominating granules (1-2 x/wk) and we were shocking it with dissolving shock tabs after each use (or at the end of the night). It stays covered all the time and I clean the filters out 1-2 x/month. We have had it for less than a month.

other stats:

ph is good/ on the low end

TA is good/ on low end

Br/ Cl tested low a few days ago and is high now that I added brominating stuff... I give up??

[Whoneedsavacation]

How long has the water been in the tub? What did you put in when you first started it up? How long has the water been green? You might want to take a sample in to a pool store and get it professionally tested -- many places do that for free.

As far as I can tell from reading this forum, none of the so-called "natural" alternatives are effective sanitizers on their own. The mineral cartridges are reported as being helpful as an aid to a bromine or chlorine system.

I personally use bromine, in a floating dispenser. To make that work, you need to add sodium bromide at startup and then adjust your floater so the water tests with a bromine residual in the safe range ( something around 2-4 ppm). A well-designed floater that stays adjusted with a locking ring makes a huge difference in getting a stable feed rate! I shock with non-chloring shock after each use or at least once a week (if using daily sometimes I skip one). There are other bromine systems that basically involve adding sodium bromide at regular intervals and activating with shock rather than keeping a steady-state with a floater. I can often go several weeks without making any adjustments at all, although I do try to test with a 4-way strip several times a week. I have also found that cheap test strips are a lot harder to use than some others (I like Leisure Time). Many on this forum will strongly recommend a test kit, but I've been doing fine without it, personally. Maybe I'll get one just to see if it makes a difference, but the test strips are dead easy.

Lots of people on this forum prefer chlorine. Apparently many people actually find it less harsh. The main disadvantage is that you do have to add it regularly, so it takes a bit more "fiddling" than the bromine floater system does.

Oh, I've let my water go south twice by basically running out of brominating tablets. It can take several days of shocking daily after the bromine residual is back up to normal, plus a clarifier (helps the filter filter the particles) plus filter cleaning to get the water back to normal again. Mine has gotten greenish, somewhat cloudy and somewhat swampy smelling when this has happened.

[anewby]

thank you so much for taking your time to help. I do use a test kit for the ph and the br/cl levels, but I have to use the strips for everything else. I have found that they are hard to read. OK, so I started it up with Spa Time ph balance and without knowing any better... neglected to add any Brominating granules for a week. We were using non chlorine shock tabs after each use... things were fine for two weeks at least, and then we noticed that the water smelled chemically. And this weekend (2.5 weeks into use) the water turned greenish clear. So all weekend, I have been adding the bromine and testing, and running the cleaning cycle.. and shocking it (no I havn't been in it since it turned green). The ph is now below the okay range and the bromine level is high... I added some scale stain remover- I'm pretty sure that we have hard water here in the mountains, and I'll go to get some strips that test the calcium level in the AM. I will get the H20 tested though... that was a great suggestion.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

thank you so much for taking your time to help. I do use a test kit for the ph and the br/cl levels, but I have to use the strips for everything else. I have found that they are hard to read. OK, so I started it up with Spa Time ph balance and without knowing any better... neglected to add any Brominating granules for a week. We were using non chlorine shock tabs after each use... things were fine for two weeks at least, and then we noticed that the water smelled chemically. And this weekend (2.5 weeks into use) the water turned greenish clear. So all weekend, I have been adding the bromine and testing, and running the cleaning cycle.. and shocking it (no I havn't been in it since it turned green). The ph is now below the okay range and the bromine level is high... I added some scale stain remover- I'm pretty sure that we have hard water here in the mountains, and I'll go to get some strips that test the calcium level in the AM. I will get the H20 tested though... that was a great suggestion.

Do you use well water? Copper in the water can cause it to turn green also. Other metals cause strange colors too. is the tub covered most the time? It should not be algea if the tub is covered and the bromine levels have been kept up. Dumb question, but I will ask. Did someone wear a new swimsuit that may have had blue or green dye in it? Did you use any spa scents? The tub will have more of a chemical smell when the chemicals are working hard to break down stuff, thats why in chlorine set ups there will be a strong chlorine smell and when you shock and add more chlorine it goes away. Low PH will also cause a strong smell.

[Hex92]

When we got our tub back in February the water turned green within a few days. It didn't smell bad, but it had a definite green tint. We tested our water and then had the professionals test it. The hardness was way to high. They put too much in we setting us up. But otherwise it tested fine.

The company that sold it to us said there was some kind of algaecide in the pump when it came from the factory and that was what turned the water green. I don't know if they were full of $h!7 or not, but it sounded plausible to me. So 10 days after installing the tub we drained it and re-filled it - following the directions for our chemicals exactly.

No more green water. Its been 2 months since we re-filled it.

So maybe you should drain it and start over. It worked for us.

[anewby]

well i think that we've gotten it under control for now. I added something called stain/ scale remover and it did something for the metal content in the water??? And then I also had to put "ph up" in it as well. I feel like it's a lot of chemical stuff to put into the water... Is this normal maintenance for hot tubs??

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

well i think that we've gotten it under control for now. I added something called stain/ scale remover and it did something for the metal content in the water??? And then I also had to put "ph up" in it as well. I feel like it's a lot of chemical stuff to put into the water... Is this normal maintenance for hot tubs??

Yes, If you have well water and there are metals in it you will need to add more chemicals to remove them.

There is a product called Sea Klear clarifier that removes metals and is a clarifier that is all natural and will not effect your PH. It is made from crab shells and you can drink it (I would not suggest this ) There are other products out there that are natural also if this is more what you are looking toward.