I Need Some Advice On Bromine System

[walleye]

I refilled my Sundance Altamar yesterday. I followed the Bromine system listed here to the tee. Everything went as I thought it would. I added the Metal Sequester, raised TA to 105 using Baking Soda, Adjusted PH using Spa Down (dry acid?) from a strong 8 to 7.5, added calcium booster to get to around 200, I used 2 ounces of sodium Bromide powder

(says 99% pure) followed by 8 Ounces of 6% regular Clorox. Bromine test showed 12.5. I let circulate for a few hours and the level dropped to 9. I dropped two bromine tabs in the compartment and I let my daughter and two grand kids soak a few hours later for about 45 minutes after the temp rose to about 98F. This was all yesterday starting in the AM (I drained tub the night before). Now just a few minutes ago, I checked the bromine and it is zero. I use a Taylor K2106 kit. No even a trace of pink shows up, even with an extra dipper of indicator powder. Question is did I do something wrong? And more importantly do I need to drain and refill? I just added 6 ounces more of 6% regular bleach and the tub is circulating. Tub holds right at 400 gallons. I am bummed. The two bromine tabs I put in yesterday are still mostly full size?

Please let me know what I need to do.

Note:

I just tested after adding the 6 Ounces of bleach and circulating for 20 minutes and the bromine level is at 8.5 ppm. Not sure if this helps at all. Still need to know If I need to drain and refill. I want to be sure I have a sanitized tub.

[chem geek]

You posted this on another forum and I answered it there, but I'll repeat my response here for everyone's benefit.

What you experienced is normal and you did the right thing. However, if those are truly bromine readings you are measuring (and with the K-2106 I assume you are using the units of measurement for bromine where with a 10 ml sample each drop is 1.25 ppm and with a 25 ml sample each drop is 0.5 ppm), then the implied spa size is 700 gallons. Is your spa really that large?

Two people soaking for 45 minutes in a hot (104ºF) spa would require the equivalent of 11.8 ppm bromine in 700 gallons so you can see how it could wipe out the 9 ppm you started with when they went into the tub. The tabs don't dissolve quickly enough to handle such bather load -- tabs are designed more for handling the background level in between soaks. After a heavy bather load, you need to add an oxidizer (such as bleach) to activate more bromine to handle the bather waste. Also, if the kids happen to urinate, then all bets are off and a lot more oxidizer would then be needed.

The rule for oxidizing bather waste is roughly that every person-hour of soaking in a hot tub requires 3-1/2 teaspoons of Dichlor or 5 fluid ounces of 6% bleach or 7 teaspoons of non-chlorine shock (43% MPS) to handle the bather waste and that this is independent of spa size. The 2 kids for 45 minutes is 1.5 person-hours.

Most people start out their soak with a lower level of chlorine (1-2 ppm) or bromine (2-4 ppm) and then add the needed amount of oxidizer right after their soak. That way they don't smell much chlorine or bromine during their soak while still handling the bather waste right afterwards and making sure they add enough so that they measure a low but not zero amount before their next soak. If you are concerned about person-to-person transmission of disease, then you'd start out with higher sanitizer levels so that it remains >0 during the entire soak, but if it's just your family then odds are you're exposing yourself to each others "stuff" in other ways. Commercial/public pools and spas have all kinds of strangers mingling including people who are sick and shouldn't be using such facilities so the requirements in those situations are necessarily more stringent and legally required.

[walleye]

You posted this on another forum and I answered it there, but I'll repeat my response here for everyone's benefit.

What you experienced is normal and you did the right thing. However, if those are truly bromine readings you are measuring (and with the K-2106 I assume you are using the units of measurement for bromine where with a 10 ml sample each drop is 1.25 ppm and with a 25 ml sample each drop is 0.5 ppm), then the implied spa size is 700 gallons. Is your spa really that large?

Chem Geek, My Tub is 395 gallons. What did I say to make you think it was 700 gallons? Yes the Taylor kit works as you described. Do I need to drain and refill?

[Spanky]

There should be no need to drain and refill. Just add Chlorox or MPS to restore the bromine level.

If you're new to bromine, read Waterbear's "Bromine for Beginners" sticky It explains things very well

You mentioned you added 2 bromine tabs do you have a floating dispenser? This is the only way I know to regulate the bromine level

Bromine tabs dissolve slowly, so the fact that after 24hrs they appear almost new would be perfectly normal.

The tablets are basically designed to maintain a "Baseline" level of bromine, you still have to deal with bather demand. How you do this depends on your usage patterns. If your usage is low, you can open the floater and maintain a high enough reserve so that you don't deplete it to 0 after a soak or what is more common, as Chem Geek told you, maintain a baseline 2-4ppm and add enough chlorox after each soak to oxidize the bather waste.

The trick to bromine is to get things "Dialed in" this will obviously be dependant on your particular usage patterns so what works for me may not work for you.

Here is my basic routine

Floater is set so that 3 full tabs are exposed. Br and pH are checked daily (a few hours before we normally soak) Bromine is usually about 3.5ppm. If it's lower I add Chlorox. After the last soak (2 adults about 40 mins.) I add one capfull (4 oz.) of chlorox and close the cover. This is slightly less than the amount Chem Geek indicated but I have an ozonator.

Just keep checking and make small adjustments to the floater and "Post Soak" dosage eventually you'll find the right balance.

The major advantage of bromine is that once the floater is dialed in, and you don't use the tub for a few days, the sanitizer level will stay somewhat constant.