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Bromine high and then disappears?


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Hello, new hot tub owner here. I added enough bromine that I thought I would have a sufficient base. But I test it and it’s showing up as almost nothing. So I add more. And then the next day it is again showing up as almost nothing. But what is odd is when I shock the hot tub than the bromine shoots up way high, but then the next day goes back to almost nothing. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

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First question, how are you testing? (strips, liquid with comparator, etc.)

Second question, what form of bromine are you using? (one step product that combines sodium bromide and an oxidizer such as dichlor, 2 step bromine (sodium bromine and a separate oxidizer), or bromine tablets in a floater)

Third question, Have you purged the spa with a product such as Ahh-some?

Please post a full set of test results and the test method used and we can take it from there, Several things could be going on that could cause this from not having a bromide bank established (often happens with one step and bromine tabs since Canada has outlawed the use of sodium bromide making it difficult to establish the bromide reserve in the tub), testing interference from very high sanitizer levels causing bleachout of the indicator dye (DPD test reagent or strips) , or biofilms in the plumbing (common in new spas that have not been purged).

Answer the questions, post the test results, and we can better help you once we get a better understanding of what might be going on in your tub.

 

Reading these threads might be helpful:

https://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/53410-how-to-use-bromine-3-step-method/

https://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/52138-bromine-use-in-spas/

https://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/55936-biofilm-after-a-full-clean/

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey waterbear... Just a correction - sodium bromide is NOT banned in Canada. It was, but it's back available again. I bought some just last week.

 

Also, jumping in on this thread. I have the same issue right now, but it could be that my kids are now using the hot tub way more than before, so the bromine puck floater isn't set to the right level. I have cranked it wide open to see if it catches back up. I have shocked it 3x in the past 3 days with chlorine bleach, and confirmed that the bromine levels were near zero and then above 10 after shocking, using a Taylor test kit.

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35 minutes ago, curls said:

Hey waterbear... Just a correction - sodium bromide is NOT banned in Canada. It was, but it's back available again. I bought some just last week.

Did you buy pure sodium bromide (usually 98%)  for establishing a bromide bank when filling the spa or for use in a 2 step bromine system with a separate oxidizer or is a mixture of sodium bromide and dichlor (one step bromine) which was not included in the ban?

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1 hour ago, waterbear said:

Did you buy pure sodium bromide (usually 98%)  for establishing a bromide bank when filling the spa or for use in a 2 step bromine system with a separate oxidizer or is a mixture of sodium bromide and dichlor (one step bromine) which was not included in the ban?

Pure sodium bromide. 98%.

See here, "Outcome of Science Evaluation" section. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/reports-publications/pesticides-pest-management/decisions-updates/reevaluation-decision/2018/sodium-bromide.html#a2

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I'm glad that it is available again. When the ban first went into effect it became impossible to get anything other than one step brormine (sodium bromide/dichlor) and bromine tabs. However, it seems difficult to find these days and from what I can see, is very overpriced. For example 1 pint of ProTeam Spa Brom Start liquid is on the US Amazon site. 1 lb. Spa Choice sodium bromide is $18.66 US on Amazon.

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1 hour ago, waterbear said:

I'm glad that it is available again. When the ban first went into effect it became impossible to get anything other than one step brormine (sodium bromide/dichlor) and bromine tabs. However, it seems difficult to find these days and from what I can see, is very overpriced. For example 1 pint of ProTeam Spa Brom Start liquid is $51.63 on the Canadian Amazon site and $16.99 on the US Amazon site. 1 lb. Spa Choice sodium bromide is $64.17 Canadian while it's $18.66 US on Amazon.

Nothing is cheap here anymore. $12 for the 100g packet of the Brom Start is about 50% more than pre-pandemic. 

It's readily available... Just not cheap.

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