spa_newb Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 So I gather the 3 methods to sanitize and manage a tub are: 1)Chlorine 2)Bromine 3)Baqua What are the pros and cons of each, including price and maintenance (baby sitting) requirements. Can all tubs use all 3 methods or are certain models and brands required to use one or the other? Please share your experiences and answer the above, this concise discussion would be a huge help to those making the decision! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whoneedsavacation Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 As far as I know, any brand or style of tub can use any method with the exception that wooden tubs do best with chlorine. Chlorine actually seems to cause fewer cases of hypersensitivity that bromine, but it takes regular (daily) addition of chlorine to keep the tub ready to use. I think you can superchlorinate and go away for a while, but the tub may be too chlorinated when you get back -- there have been some very recent threads on that subject. I use a bromine system with a floater, and it's very low maintenance. I keep the floater full (usually), shock after use or weekly and check the stats every couple of days or so. No need to do anything for time away less than a couple weeks. We have had dry skin when the bromine level was too high, but no problems when it is maintained properly. There are also bromine systems that rely on shock to activate a bromine reserve rather than using a floater, but I believe this method takes more maintenance to keep the tub sanitary. Biguanide (Baqua) is supposed to be easy on the skin, but if you don't do everything right you may need to switch to another system to clean out the resistant stuff. Do a search here, there are discussions on what goes wrong when biguanide goes wrong. I remember something about peanut butter goo and white mold, but I'm no expert here. The stuff is supposed to be great when it's working, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spa_newb Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Thanks for the reply. What about costs? Also, a large dealer here that sells Hot Springs and Sundance claimed their tubs ran best on Chlorine and this is what they pushed as the solution there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterBeast Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 The CGCMS (not-yet-patented Chem Geek Chlorine Management System) using dichlor/bleach seems cheapest by a fair stretch. Bromine isn't bad, once you get in the groove with it, and I find it easy to use with a high degree of confidence - and I travel frequently. I like the additional safety factors with higher temp, higher pH, and potentially weeks worth of consistent auto-addition of sanitizer. It is definitely more expensive than chlorine, especailly using the Spa Frog system built into my spa. I'm now carefully buying in bulk off the internet which helps. No comment on Baqua, but I'm guessing somewhat expensive as it is not as broadly used. This looks viable, but I recommend doing your homework on the specifics and peculiarities of this system. Choose a system, get good with it, then optimize for cost. For example: buy 'pool' sized quantities vs. 'spa' sized quantities, get free shipping and no taxes on internet purchases, etc. for cost savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Cost wise, Bromine and chlorine are very close. The bleach method by Chem geek has some downfalls with the newer tubs with ozone/multi jets so if you do this method make sure to get his entire recipe and understand it. Chlorine systems are a little more labor intensive than bromine. Bromine is a chemical you can re-establish(over a period of time you can stop adding bromine and just shock when you level drops low to re-establish the used bromine) and it works the best in a hot water environment. Baqa has many side issues, but some people swear by it. It is rather costly. If you purchase Pool chemical sizes of chemicals make sure you are getting the correct chemical. Not all chlorines can be used in a spa, most pool chlorine can not. Your PH adjustors will be the same, but be very careful you know the chemical ingreidients in the stuff you are purchasing......Even if it says for spas.....Walmart carries spa shock and spa sanitizer, both are calcium hypochlorite which should not be used in a spa. Read around the posts, decide overall what you are looking for...smell, ease, price, ect and see which would work best for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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