Way to directly test if Bromine is present?

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RTamanda

RTamanda

0
Gold Supporter
Jul 25, 2011
81
Durant, OK
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
We just bought a house that has a lovely (dripping with sarcasm) bromine/chlorine in-line feeder. The previous owners left a jug of chlorine tablets, and other random pool stuff (clarifier, etc) but I don’t see any bromine. I’m praying maybe the pool isn’t actually bromine (I know, it’s wishful thinking). How can I actually test directly for bromine? It is a 20,000 gallon outdoor in ground pool with significant exposure to sunlight.
 
Picture of feeder?

There is really no way to tell without sending a water sample to a lab that can test for bromide.

I would convert to SWG and see how it goes.

If necessary, you can dilute to remove whatever might be in the water.

Can you post a full set of water chemistry results including salinity?
 
JamesW said:
Picture of feeder?

There is really no way to tell without sending a water sample to a lab that can test for bromide.

I would convert to SWG and see how it goes.

If necessary, you can dilute to remove whatever might be in the water.

Can you post a full set of water chemistry results including salinity?
JamesW said:
Picture of feeder?

There is really no way to tell without sending a water sample to a lab that can test for bromide.

I would convert to SWG and see how it goes.

If necessary, you can dilute to remove whatever might be in the water.

Can you post a full set of water chemistry results including salinity?
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Sorry for the late reply, and thanks for your help! I unfortunately don’t have a way to test salinity at the moment. I’ve been slamming my tail off all weekend. Pool is no longer green, just cloudy, so I’m just trying to be patient with my sand filter. I do see that the feeder says chlorine/bromine, so I’m praying it was just chlorine.
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duraleigh said:
Please disregard bromine. It is not relevant. Please keep your posts under one thread so we can follow.

Are you trying to SLAM the pool?
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I apologize, I had different questions at different times. It’s a new pool to us that I’m trying to get to know. We got zero info from previous owners. SLAM is going well, no more green, just cloudy white. OCLT still dropping, 2ppm last night, so I’ll keep chugging along. Clean psi was 16 before eyeballs, so I’ve been backwashing at 20. I’m sitting at about 19psi this morning. I’ll backwash today and put in eyeballs. Thank you!
 

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The zero CYA seems odd.

At this point, there is no way to tell what the previous owner has added to the pool.

I doubt that they were using bromine, but there is no way to tell for sure unless you find a big bucket of bromine tabs somewhere.

There are products that contain bromide like Yellow Out and products that contain copper, but it can be difficult to determine what a previous owner has used without finding containers or having the owners tell you what they used.
 
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That’s just the type of feeder it is - doubtful that its a bromine pool.

*You will lose fc quickly during the day with no cya & end up using much more during your slam.
This is why It is recommended to have 30ppm cya for the SLAM Process.
Bromine is not protected from the sun by cya like chlorine is & would be depleted quickly in the daylight hours so if your fc starts holding better during the day after adding cya it’s unlikely that you actually have bromine.
 
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Mdragger88 said:
That’s just the type of feeder it is - doubtful that its a bromine pool.

*You will lose fc quickly during the day with no cya & end up using much more during your slam.
This is why It is recommended to have 30ppm cya for the SLAM Process.
Bromine is not protected from the sun by cya like chlorine is & would be depleted quickly in the daylight hours so if your fc starts holding better during the day after adding cya it’s unlikely that you actually have bromine.
Click to expand...
I’ll add cya now, thank you!
 
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SLAM is going well, no more green, just cloudy white. OCLT still dropping, 2ppm last night, so I’ll keep chugging along. Clean psi was 16 before eyeballs, so I’ve been backwashing at 20. I’m sitting at about 19psi this morning. I’ll backwash today and put in eyeballs. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Good progress.

So. are you SLAMing? CYA should be at 30 before you start.

No reason to do OCLT until your pool is crystal clear.
 
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duraleigh said:
Good progress.

So. are you SLAMing? CYA should be at 30 before you start.

No reason to do OCLT until your pool is crystal clear.
Click to expand...
Yes, SLAMming still. I added 4lbs CYA yesterday which the calculator said should get me to about 24. I have more coming that will hopefully be delivered today to get me to 30. FC 10 last night, FC 9.6 this morning. Water still cloudy and dull, so SLAMing continues! Thank you!
 

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When the CYA comes in, go ahead and add it to get to 30 but then no need to test for it further.......just assume it's in there and so now your CYA is 30 and your new SLAM value is 12 ppm.

Keep your FC at 12 ppm by testing and replenishing 3-4 times daily. When your pool is crystal clear perform the OCLT (as described in the SLAM article) and, if you pass OCLT.......Go swimming - you're done!,
 
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Check all your nooks & crannies for algae & scrub them as well.
Ladder rungs/rails (inside)
Light niches
Skimmer throats and weir doors.
Even the frog pads!
 
duraleigh said:
When the CYA comes in, go ahead and add it to get to 30 but then no need to test for it further.......just assume it's in there and so now your CYA is 30 and your new SLAM value is 12 ppm.

Keep your FC at 12 ppm by testing and replenishing 3-4 times daily. When your pool is crystal clear perform the OCLT (as described in the SLAM article) and, if you pass OCLT.......Go swimming - you're done!,
Click to expand...
👙🤿🎉🥳
 
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Mdragger88 said:
Check all your nooks & crannies for algae & scrub them as well.
Ladder rungs/rails (inside)
Light niches
Skimmer throats and weir doors.
Even the frog pads!
Click to expand...
I have been scrubbing every thing every day! My arms actually fell off an I had to net them out of the deep end. Using my feet now, but still scrubbing! 🤣
 
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duraleigh said:
When the CYA comes in, go ahead and add it to get to 30 but then no need to test for it further.......just assume it's in there and so now your CYA is 30 and your new SLAM value is 12 ppm.

Keep your FC at 12 ppm by testing and replenishing 3-4 times daily. When your pool is crystal clear perform the OCLT (as described in the SLAM article) and, if you pass OCLT.......Go swimming - you're done!,
Click to expand...
Another related question for you. I read on a previous post that massaging the cya sock makes it dissolve too fast, and makes the cya less effective. Other commenters said they don’t believe this was true. What do you think?
 
RTamanda said:
Another related question for you. I read on a previous post that massaging the cya sock makes it dissolve too fast, and makes the cya less effective. Other commenters said they don’t believe this was true. What do you think?
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This is untrue & that person didn’t hear that here - once cya is in the water it is in the water. Doesn’t matter if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours.
 
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Mdragger88 said:
This is untrue & that person didn’t hear that here - once cya is in the water it is in the water. Doesn’t matter if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours.
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Wellllll, they did also admit in that same post that they were a Leslie’s store manager… so there’s that 🤣 Thank you for easing my OCD mind.
 
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  • Wow
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