Need Advice - Planning To Switch To Bromine

[simonc]

I've been using the diclor-then-bleach method very successfully in my 275 gallon Jacuzzi tub. However, because of I'm not going to be available to use/maintain the tub on a frequent basis, I need to find something that will only require once-a-week (maybe once-every-two-weeks???) of maintenance when the tub is getting minimal use. So ... here are my questions:

1. Assuming minimal use ... my wife and I once every week or two ... can I successfully maintain the tub by testing (and adding chemicals) only once a week? Longer intervals would be preferable.

2. Do I need to buy a WHOLE new test kit? I have the Taylor K-2006 for chlorine. The Taylor bromine kit is a K-2106 which I can get for $43 + shipping at this Amazon SITE. I don't need two complete kits unless most of the chemicals are different. Can I just use my K-2006 and buy a couple of new chemicals? Of course, as the cost of additional chemicals gets close to $43, then I might just as well buy the whole bromine kit. (NOTE: I'm a little confused about the kits. The description of the K-2106 says "chlorine/bromine". Will this kit test both?)

3. I'm assuming that I do NOT need to dump my current tub water when I switch from chlorine bleach to bromine. Correct? My plan is to adjust the water then follow the directions for bromine.

4. I plan to use a floater to supply the bromine and clorox bleach (6%) as the shock.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

- Simon

[chem geek]

Simon,

1. Yes, you can use bromine tabs and probably get away with replenishing them once a week. You would still probably add an oxidizer (chlorine or MPS) after your soak to handle the extra demand from bather load.

2. No, you do not need a new test kit. You can use your K-2006 to test for bromine. Simply do the Free Chlorine (FC) part of the test, multiply your "chlorine" result by 2.25 and you have Total Bromine. Or with a 25 ml sample size count each drop as 0.45 ppm Total Bromine or with a 10 ml sample size count each drop as 1.125 ppm Total Bromine. Of course, you could just roughly count these as 0.5 ppm and 1.2 ppm respectively and not have that much error.

3. Yes, when switching from chlorine to bromine you are correct that you do not need to change the water. It's only when going from bromine to chlorine where you would need a complete water change. So you can start out adding some sodium bromide to create a bromide bank and then start using bromine tabs in a floating feeder.

4. Yes, that is good to use the floater for the bromine tabs and you can use 6% bleach to handle the incremental bather load and also as a shock if you aren't using the tub for extended periods of time. If you use bleach after your soak, then you may not need to shock regularly as the bleach after a soak may handle all extra organics. If you don't soak for more than a week, then you can add bleach weekly to keep the water clear, handling anything that bromine might not be able to oxidize though with nothing going on in the tub even that may not be necessary.

Richard

[quantumchromodynamics]

Note: The kit in the Amazon link you showed is not the K-2106; it is the K-2000. The K-2000 is not FAS-DPD.

[simonc]

Chem Geek & QCD -

Chem Geek ... Thanks for the useful information. I'll save myself some money by not having to purchase a separate bromine kit.

QCD ... thanks for catching my error on the kit number. That would have been a $50 mistake! I should know better than to BLINDLY trust Google search. I put in the correct kit number for the search field, but got this incorrect hit. As they say ... "Buyer beware".

- Simon

[waterbear]

With a three step bromine system you should be able to get by with only weekly maintenance. This thread discusses how to do a three step bromine tub.

[simonc]

With a three step bromine system you should be able to get by with only weekly maintenance. This thread discusses how to do a three step bromine tub.

Waterbear -

Thanks for the link to using bromine.

Can you (or someone else) tell me if I understand the basic concepts and procedures with bromine. Here is what I think. Am I in the ballpark?

1. After balancing the water, you create a bromine reserve by adding Sodium Bromide. When this dissolves in the water it creates the stuff that is the sanitizer (hypobromous acid). This is what my test kit will measure as the bromine level.

2. As the bromine tablets in the floater dissolve (they contain bromine and chlorine to activate the bromine), they will maintain a basic level of sanitizer so that "bad things" won't grow in my tub while I'm not using it.

3. If the level of bromine gets too low, I can add chlorine bleach to shock the water and create more sanitizer.

4. Immediately after using the tub, I should add chlorine to oxidize bather waste and to maintain my bromine sanitizer reserve.

Correct???

- Simon

[waterbear]

With a three step bromine system you should be able to get by with only weekly maintenance. This thread discusses how to do a three step bromine tub.

Waterbear -

Thanks for the link to using bromine.

Can you (or someone else) tell me if I understand the basic concepts and procedures with bromine. Here is what I think. Am I in the ballpark?

1. After balancing the water, you create a bromine reserve by adding Sodium Bromide. When this dissolves in the water it creates the stuff that is the sanitizer (hypobromous acid). This is what my test kit will measure as the bromine level.

It is converted into bromine sanitizer by whatever oxidizer you are using such as chlorine, MPS, or ozone.

2. As the bromine tablets in the floater dissolve (they contain bromine and chlorine to activate the bromine), they will maintain a basic level of sanitizer so that "bad things" won't grow in my tub while I'm not using it.

3. If the level of bromine gets too low, I can add chlorine bleach to shock the water and create more sanitizer.

4. Immediately after using the tub, I should add chlorine to oxidize bather waste and to maintain my bromine sanitizer reserve.

Correct???

- Simon

basically correct. Some people just shock the tub weekly if they are able to maintain a constant bromine level otherwise.