Chlorine -Vs- Bromine With Ozonator

[BurtonBen]

I am new to hot tub chemistry and have been confused by conflicting info I have found both on this forum as well as from Del Ozone tech support.

My question is: Which is better to use with an ozonator... Bromine or Chlorine?

Thank you!

[Spanky]

There is no simple answer to your question.

Ozone will oxidize everything in it's path including chlorine. If your bather load is high then both systems may benefit from the additional oxidation of waste, but if your bather load is low, then the ozone can actually lower FC.

Bromine, on the other hand, does not suffer from this depletion, and ozone helps return bromamines into bromine. Unfortunately most ozone systems are not highly effective as the O3 does not remain in the water long enough. The gas mostly bubbles to the surface and can shorten the life expectancy of the spa cover.

You have to weigh all the pro's and con's and decide for yourself. In theory Bromine has an advantage over Chlorine, in regards to Ozone

BUT

Chlorine (Dichlor/Bleach) has a huge advantage over Bromine in water clarity and change interval. Bromine usually requires a water change every 3-4 months whereas Chlorine often lasts 6-12 months

[BurtonBen]

Thank you Spanky.

The Del Ozone tech. suggested I use chlorine because of the reaction that ozone has with bromine. He suggested I keep my FC at 0.5-1 ppm to combat algae. He said the ozone will take care of everything else. From reading other posts, it seems like a FC of 0.5-1 ppm is dangerously low. Is that true, or will the ozonator take care of enough that the FC can be lower?

I am concerned about the ozone fighting the chlorine and thereby making me add more chlorine. (the goal of the ozonator was to reduce chemicals) It sounds like you end up using more chlorine with an ozonator and less bromine with an ozonator. Is that correct? If so, it seems like bromine is the better choice if the goal is less chemicals.

At this point our "bather load" is 2 adults and 1 child once or maybe twice a day.

Thanks again!

[BurtonBen]

Nitro or Waterbear.. Any thoughts?

Thank you.

[chem geek]

It will be virtually impossible to maintain such a low FC level when you have an ozonator where ozone is depleting the FC. It's not a matter of dangerous, but of being impractical. So with your bather load using the spa every day, you should be able to use chlorine so can follow the Dichlor-then-Bleach method. Before you switch from Dichlor to bleach I'd lower your TA to 50 ppm and the use of 50 ppm borates is not optional for most spas since the pH tends to rise with aeration such as from spa jets.

[Spanky]

The Del Ozone tech. suggested I use chlorine because of the reaction that ozone has with bromine.

Sounds to me like the Del Ozone tech got it backwards!!! The reaction between Ozone & Bromine is a positive (beneficial one) whereas the reaction between Ozone & Chlorine can be detrimental !!!

All manufacturers claim that installing Ozone allows you to use less sanitizer. This is nothing but sales BULL!!!! There is absolutely NO truth to it.

It's sad that there are too many cases of so called "Spa Experts" associated with dealers and manufacturers giving out confusing, and in some cases, outright bogus information to unsuspecting spa customers. Just my opinion.... My apologies to those true professionals out there that are honest and properly versed in the FACTS

[Spanky]

Another tidbit: If you use Ozone with Dichlor/Bleach, check your system low level programming.

When I used Bromine, my ozonator was set to "Always ON" but after switching to Dichlor/Bleach I changed it to "On every 1/2 hr."

This helps to prevent the FC loss by reducing the time the Ozone is produced when the spa is not in use. I also increases the life expectancy of the CD chip

[chem geek]

Perhaps the rep was concerned about ozone creating bromate, but that isn't volatile nor does it absorb through the skin so the only issue is to avoid drinking it in large quantities. It's also true that the brominated disinfection by-products are worse than the chlorinated ones, but that's true regardless of ozone and ozone might help keep those somewhat in check.

[BurtonBen]

Thank you very much for all the good info.

I will use all of you advice and give it a go.

Cheers!

[kimesper]

I've had my hot tub for 14 years. I've always use Bromine for a couple reasons. One being that I have blonde color treated hair and I didn't want my hair to turn green. Another being that my allergist did not want me coming in contact with chlorine. I have not had a problem keeping my bromine levels up. I use a floter with tablets and once a week I shock my tub which is what the care instructions say to do. I also have not had an issue with cloudy water. As long as you follow your wekly care program. There is a product Clear Blue that you use to keep your water clear. I enjoy not having the chemical smell of chlorine as well.

[chem geek]

Chlorine does not turn blond hair green. It is COPPER that turns blond hair green and the copper does so more when chlorine is present. If you avoid the use of copper-based algaecides, then you should have no problem using chlorine. As for allergies, it is highly unlikely you have an actual allergy to chlorine, especially if you have no problems with bromine.

The problem may be "Clear Blue" if this is it since that adds copper, silver and zinc ions to the water. Is that what you are talking about?

[dlleno]

FYI Ozone and Bromine is a beautiful thing. I have sufficient sodium bromide salts in my water (from initial fill treatment), I do not use bromine tabs or a floater, and my corona discharge ozone generator maintains approximately 1-2 ppm bromine in my spa indefinitely, under no load conditions (i.e. vacation)

To keep up with bather load I use Clorox 8.25% bleach as the oxidizer.