What the difference?
What's better for your body (healthier)?
What's better for your hot tub?

differences... different chemicals

What's better for sanitation? chlorine all the way

what's better for your skin? none of them, but some people will react to chlorine, and not bromine.

Bromine can be harder to maintain

Please note that not all "chlorine" is created equal. There are at least 3 popular flavors, all with drastically different chemical properties.

I recommend "sodum dichlor" type granulated chlorine. It's virtually PH neutral, and is unstable (it won't stay in the water too long). It dissolves rapidly as well..

If you add about 1 teaspoon/300 gallons AFTER each use, and shock it with about 1 teaspoons/100 gallons once a week, you'll never evenb smell the chlorine, as the residuals will be about the same as your drinking water. No red eyes, no chemical odor, and balanced PH and Alkalinity.

If you can add an ozone generator, cut the after use chloriniation in 1/2.

I detest bromine, yet I shouldn't. My customers that are stuck on bromine feeders are certainly doing their part for my kids college tuition, what with all the replced heaters and shaft-seal repairs. Not to mention, it stinks to high heaven...

The beuaty of Sodium dichlor is not only the balanced PH, but also the fact that your adding it when the spa actually needs sanitation. As soon as you get out, that's as dirty as that water is ever going to be, and that is when it needs sanitation. Once you've tossed in the teaspoon or so of chlorine, it simply evaporates. The next day, the residual will likely >1ppm

Conversley, with bromine feeders, they're always adding the same amount of sanitizer, whether the tub needs it or not, and at the sime time, are always dropping the PH and alklinity, making it a very corrosive environment. The end result is almost always an over-sanitized tub, that is a constant PH battle. Unfortunaley, for the majority, it's a battle lost, the PH is always too low, corroding equipment and generally lowing the overall quality of the spa experience.

Swine

Where can i get "sodum dichlor" i'm in connecticut.


Thank you johnnyspa.

Right here. Bring some water in, we test it for free. Brstol or Torrington. You can order it from us online as well. Other options are most any local spa retailer near you.

Thank you!! I think i will stop down next week. johnnyspa " title="Very Happy" />

If you use dichlor, a teaspoon a day and a teaspoon for every 100 gallons a week to sanatize. do you still need Stain and scale, natural spa enzyme, water clarifier and hot tub shock??? Thank you johnnyspa " title="Very Happy" />

most likely not... in fact, you probably wouldn't ever need those chemicals, as long as you keep your ph balanced. They are just money in the dealer's pockets, really.

Thanks Charger " title="Very Happy" />

I agree. They are not always necessary, but they do enhance water quality.
If someone has iron or copper in their source water, stain and scale control is necessary if you want unstained water.
Some people like the polished look water clarifier will give their water.
Etc, etc.

My water is very clean using what i have. i just want to simplify what i'm doing. Thank you for some great info " title="Very Happy" /> Johnnyspa

I want to thank Poolboy, charger. GREAT INFO it work GREAT!!!!!!!! Thank You Again!!!!! Johnnyspa. " title="Very Happy" /> " title="Very Happy" /> " title="Very Happy" /> " title="Very Happy" />

Anytime! Happy Hot tubbin'

Lifes to short not to hot tub " title="Very Happy" /> " title="Very Happy" /> " title="Very Happy" />

Just chiming in with my two cents -- I recently got a hot tub, and started out with Bromine. Within 10 days, the water was very cloudy, I was having a hard time keeping the pH HIGH enough, and there was always a foam build-up that was kind of dirty, and eventually I got a skin reaction that looked like little pimples all over my body, which took almost a week to clear up. I dont know if the reaction was chemical or bacterial, but after doing further reading, I decided to drain the tub, clean it thoroughly, and switch to chlorine (DiChlor). This has been MUCH better all around. pH is far more stable (I add an occasional "pH decreaser" but that's not often). All i do is sprinkle about 2-3 teaspoons of the granular DiChlor after we get out of the tub, and shock with about 2 tablespoons once a week. The water has been crystal clear, doesnt smell of chemicals, and doesnt trash my skin!

Something to consider if you're on the fence with your chemical selection. Your mileage may vary.

Just a minor clarification and some word of caution. The original responses alluded to Sodium Dichlor as being "unstable." Quite the contrary. It is why it is used in small bodies of water like a hot tub -- it is STABILIZED unlike Tri-Chlor. It is fairly close to neutral so small additions in small bodies of water don't drastically alter the pH.

On the other hand, what dichlor will do is build CYA which may (will) eventually aid in the eventual clouding of your water along with TDSs (Total Dissolved Solids, etc...). Because of this and other factors, that is the reason the water in your tub should be drained every few months...

As for me, I thought I would get a drain in this winter but since it snows every other #*^&%!($@# day, has been below zero, have mountains of snow all around me, and we can't get a break.... I closely watch my balance and use a little liquid chlorine ("unstablized" in lieu of dichlor to try to keep my CYA low. This requires a bit of pH minus (which is now affecting my TA)... Come on SPRING!!!

AGE

I have a HS spa using their mineral sanitizer. I am told I don't need water clarifier because of my ozonator. Please advise. Pete

If by "mineral" sanitizer, you mean the silver ion package? You still need to use a primary sanitizer or shocking agent. As for clarifier, I doubt you'll need it, with or without the silver ion pack. @Old-Age- I understand dichlor can also be described as stabalized, but once in the water- it will generally only last a few minutes to a few hours. (as available chlorine) Also, build up of CYA does add to tda, but with dichlor, we're talking such small amounts, it will take years before it reaches the point where TDA becomes an issue " title="Wink" />

I recently had a CYA reading of 150. My dealer explained it to me and didn't understand how it got their. My water was only 6 weeks old. I ended up draining and refilling. I am thinking of using bleach after my cya gets above 40ppm.

Bleach is an excessively poor sanitizer, with an extremely high PH. It makes for a poor shocking agent, and may cloud the tub as well. Are you testing for Calcium or Cyunaric Acid? Is your water regularly cloudy? Post your chemical maintenance routine " title="Smile" />

I test twice a week as I use the tub twice a day on average. My regular is to test for FC,TC,PH,ALK,Hardness. Once I get the hardness up over 100ppm I quit testing for that. I can test for CYA very occasionally if I suspect something is wrong.

My water is not cloudy. My biggest issue is the ALK. On a fresh fill it is like 290. I will then use muratic acid 1/3 cup to bring it down to range then switch to the regular granular PH decreaser. If I don't do it this way it takes days to get the ALK down.

My next issue is my PH is continualy climbing so I am always adding PH decreaser and in the end my alk goes to the basement. It is like 70 now with a PH of 7.5. So I added 2 TBLSP baking soda

Hmmm... A high CYA is an interesting issue. My initial TA and Hardness is way higher than yours. We have very hard well water here. I think you are trying to drive down your TA too fast. Slow it down a bit. The use of Dichlor will raise CYA and in small bodies of water, that rise could be relatively rapid. The issue is that dichlor doesn't affect pH all that much but bleach will -- but not as much as other posters here will tell you. We're not talking gallons and gallons like in larger bodies of water. We're talking less than oz. depending on available chlorine.

I use both liquid chlorine and dichlor in order to keep control of CYA. I keep my tub at a low TA (currently below 65) - it is a portable spa with an acrylic shell -- and control my pH around 7.5. My test kit shows that my water is wonderfully balanced, is crystal clear, I have very stable FC, and a low CYA. I filled it on 6 Nov and would like to change it but our weather here has been horrendous and I can't dump nearly 500 gallons yet.

With your numbers, is your water balanced?

My opinions are this... bleach makes an excellent sanitizer. I don't understand those who counter that argument. I have never heard of chemical rationale that states otherwise. I used to maintain a small above ground pool with bleach alone but fell back to trichlor because the cost savings was not worth the effort. For shocking, yes, too much bleach will raise your pH to levels that are too high and then you go into the cycle you are describing. For me, I have been shocking with dichlor because I am trying to simplify my chemical usage. I haven't tested my CYA in a while and will do so this weekend and post my results of 4+ month water.

In Feb, I had a foam issue that I thought might be the end of my water but related that to four little girls playing mermaid and shocked and threw in one scum ball. Sure enough, all better. Probably excessive "schmutz" in their suits and hair.

I think you are doing fine and your TA may be something that you just let go for awhile unless someone here can tell us otherwise.

AGE