Which Sanitation Methods Are You Currently Using?

[bartman9]

I am new to the spa world and am about 2 weeks out from getting my new Jacuzzi J-365 spa! Have been trying to do some research on different sanitation methods and found some great info here. I am interested is seeing which method others are using/prefer.

Did I leave any important ones out?

I appreciate your feedback.

Dave

EDIT: I edited this to include feedback from waterbear

[waterbear]

I need to point out that ozone is NOT a primary sanitizer.It stil requires one of the sanitizers below!

There are only 4 primary sanitizers:

Chlorine (including salt systems)

Bromine (spa frog is bromine, so are some salt systems)

Silver/MPS (Nature 2 is silver/MPS)

Biguanide/peroxide (BaquaSpa, SoftSoak, Revacil, etc). Some spa manufacturers prohibit the use of biguanide because it attacks some plastics used in spa manufacture and using it can void your warranty. It is expen$ive to use and has more problems associated with its use than the other three above.

Ozone and UV have no residual effect and are NOT primary sanitizers! Ozone (if properly installed, usually it is not and is just a marketing ploy) can be of use in some situations but in others can actually increase sanitizer demand. UV is not residual at all and is of limited value, IMHO. It can help reduce persistent combined chlorine in some cases.

Everything else is either a halogen system in disguise (Aquafinesse), an algaecide (copper sulfate based liquid and powders and copper/silver ionizer units--all of these can stain spa surfaces and turn hair green!) or just plain snake oil! ("magic" spa products that talk about biofilms, enzymes, magnets (yep, they used to sell magnets for spas!), etc.

As far as the 4 sanitizer systems listed above, realize that there are different ways to implement them, some of which work well (three step bromine, dichlor/bleach) and others that eithe have inherent problems (plain dichlor, which leads to over stabilization and under sanitiation in a short time) or are more marketing to get you to buy something you really don't need and might be of dubious, IMHO, value (CROAK! CROAK! RIBBIT!)

[chem geek]

In spa surveys, about half the people use chlorine, most using Dichlor, about 1/3rd use bromine, most with tablets in a floater, and the rest use various alternatives, not all of which are bulk-water sanitizers (e.g. ozone which is really only a supplement).

However, just because one system is most popular does not mean it is necessarily the best. Spa dealers and the spa industry do not promote the Dichlor-then-bleach method so even though it has the water last at least twice as long between water changes and with superior water quality throughout, a small percentage of spa owners use that system. Generally speaking, the decision should really be between Dichlor-then-bleach for people who use the spa every day or two vs. bromine tabs in a floater for people who use the spa less frequently, say once a week or so. Also, ozone works better with frequently used spas and ends up using more chlorine in infrequently used spas though is OK for bromine spas since it can generate more bromine.

There are also semi-automated options such as a saltwater chlorine generator supplemented as needed with Dichlor/bleach.

[bartman9]

waterbear and chemgeek,

Thanks for your feedback. I know I still have a lot to learn so I definitely appreciate your comments. I did update the poll to accommodate some of your feedback. However, if I am reading correctly, it seems like there could be different subcategories under chlorine and bromine. What are the different (common) chlorine techniques and bromine techniques? I'll take a stab...

Chlorine:

- dichlor then bleach

- ?

Bromine:

- tabs in floater

-?

...off to do more reading.

Thanks!

Dave

[chem geek]

For chlorine there is:

• Dichlor-only
  
• Dichlor-then-bleach (or its variant of initial CYA then bleach)
  
• Trichlor tabs (not common; an option in AquaFinesse™)
  
• Saltwater chlorine generator (e.g. ControlOMatic ColorChlor/TechniChlor/MiniChlor/ChlorMaker, ACE® Salt Water Sanitizing System*)
  

*the ACE system uses boron-doped diamond electrodes to generate hydroxyl radicals in addition to chlorine

For bromine there is:

• 2-step bromine (add sodium bromide to create bromide bank; use an oxidizer to create bromine from the bromide)
  
• 3-step bromine (2-step bromine plus bromine tabs in a floating feeder)
  

Ozone would be an orthogonal supplement to the above, though there may be some who use it exclusively (usually with poor results).

[bartman9]

Okay,

That is helpful. I did update the poll one more time to hopefully reflect most of this. Not sure how valuable to poll info will be, but thought it might be fun.

[waterbear]

IT might be fun but it really is not going to be of much value. BIguanide/peroxide ie really best for dealers because it insures a high profit margin on special chemicals and frequent filter replacement. It really does not benefit the consumer, IMHO.

SIver/MPS is useful iin a low but frequent usage spa (used by only one or two people a few times a week). It does not have any real advantage over chlorine or bromine. It is simply an alternative.

Chlorine can be introducted in several ways such as with a SWCG, with a tablet floater and trichlor tabs (NOT a good idea in a spa for several reasons). or by manuall dosing with stabiliaes or unstabilized chorne sources As long as CYA levels, pH, TA and CH are monitored and taken into account and adjusted as needed it really does not matter, What matters is regular water testing and good water maintenance. Dichlor/bleach has proven itself to be the least troublesome way to maintain a chlorine spa when used with a GOOD test kit (we like the Taylor K-2006 as do most internet pool and spa forums!)

Bromine chemistry is different than chlorine chemistry and has to be treated as such. Once again water testing is important (Taylor K-2106 for bromine). Two step bromine (sometimes condensed into a one step product that is just a mixture of mosly dichlor with some sodium bromide mixed in) offers no real advantage over chlorine and can be harder to maintain. Three step bromine is better for spas that are ignored for up to a week at a time but can get heavy usage when they are used. It is more forgiving because bromine is effective over wider water parameter ranges than chlorine and the tabs in the floater keep the bromine levels where it needs to be between use without dissolving too fast or dropping both TA and pH too quickly in the hot spa water like trichlor tabs in a floater do.

In theory adding silver to a bromine system (spa frog) can allow you to use half the amount of bromine. In practice it is a different matter. Also, silver bromide is highly insoluble and will precipitate on the substrate of the mineral cartridge so I find the whole thing suspect anyway.

Ozone is a two edged sword. It in either increase or decrease sanitizer demand (the amount of sanitizer needed to maintain a given sanitizer level). It does NOT allow one to run a lower sanitizer level as the marketing literature would lead you to believe. Once again this is theory and falls down in actual practice. Ozone is extremely toxic and there is supposed to be NO unreacted ozone in the body of the water. This is often not the case but many spa ozone units do not produce a lot of ozone so it is not much of a worry. Once again, the way many of them are implemented it is a selling feature ("we give you ozone, the competition doesn't). The same could be said for UV!

In a very high usage spa (read commercial spa) the use of UV or ozone might serve a purpose. Both can help eliminate or reduce persistent chloramines and volatile oxidation byproducts and UV, if properly implemented, can kill cryptosproidium spores, which are resistant chlorine. This is important in case of fecal accidents that occur in commercial pools and spas.

Hope this helps.

[Haywire]

And I might add that although I voted that I currently use biguanide, that will change to dichlor-then-bleach as soon as I run out of the chems I have. I'm a newb too and the reading I've done here in the last 18 hours or so has been an education.

Ian