I use the frog bromine system and Taylor k-2006 fans-dpd kit in a intex 210gallon inflatable vinyl bubble spa. My FC registered 2.5, CC .5, PH 7.4, Alk 50. At 101 degrees, my wife and I spent 1 hour with bubbles on and the next morning my FC was .5 CC 0., PH 8.0, TA 70. What happened??? First time I have seen my levels change so dramatically. I have added more leasure time sodium Bromide 2oz of it but it did not register on FC. Is Sodium Bromide and frogs Sodium dichlorvos-s-triazinetrione not the same?? Please help, I am a little confused
where is bromine going
- Thread starter Deej
- Start date
Welcome to TFP! 
Do you have an ozonator? I'm guessing that you don't given the description of this inflatable spa. With no ozonator, every person-hour of soaking in a hot (104ºF) spa requires around 3-1/2 teaspoons of Dichlor or 3-1/2 fluid ounces of 8.25% bleach or 7 teaspoons of non-chlorine shock (43% MPS) to oxidize bather waste. You had two people soaking for one hour so that's 2 person-hours of bather load though at 101ºF your equivalent bather load would be less. In 210 gallons, using 104ºF and adjusting later would be a chlorine demand of nearly 12 ppm FC or a bromine demand of around 26 ppm. Again, because your water temperature is lower the actual demand is less, but still very large.
So how do you handle your bather waste? Do you normally add an oxidizer after your soak? If not, then it doesn't make sense that this is the first time you've seen your "levels change so dramatically" from 2.5 ppm to 0.5 ppm. That is not dramatic at all for a spa. You say you've used the spa daily for 2 people for an hour so how did you oxidize bather waste before? Did you add something to the spa after each soak? Do you have bromine tabs in a feeder?
Sodium bromide just creates a bromide bank. It is NOT bromine. You need to add an oxidizer to create bromine. Sodium dichloro-s-tiazinetrione, aka Dichlor, is NOT the same as sodium bromide. Dichlor is chlorine which is an oxidizer. So the problem is that you did not add an oxidizer to the spa and now need to do so. You can use Dichlor, bleach, or non-chlorine shock (MPS) as an oxidizer. Obviously bleach is the least expensive. It will likely take rather large amounts to get rid of the bather waste.
You also need to lower your pH which generally rises in a spa due to carbon dioxide outgassing.
Do you have an ozonator? I'm guessing that you don't given the description of this inflatable spa. With no ozonator, every person-hour of soaking in a hot (104ºF) spa requires around 3-1/2 teaspoons of Dichlor or 3-1/2 fluid ounces of 8.25% bleach or 7 teaspoons of non-chlorine shock (43% MPS) to oxidize bather waste. You had two people soaking for one hour so that's 2 person-hours of bather load though at 101ºF your equivalent bather load would be less. In 210 gallons, using 104ºF and adjusting later would be a chlorine demand of nearly 12 ppm FC or a bromine demand of around 26 ppm. Again, because your water temperature is lower the actual demand is less, but still very large.
So how do you handle your bather waste? Do you normally add an oxidizer after your soak? If not, then it doesn't make sense that this is the first time you've seen your "levels change so dramatically" from 2.5 ppm to 0.5 ppm. That is not dramatic at all for a spa. You say you've used the spa daily for 2 people for an hour so how did you oxidize bather waste before? Did you add something to the spa after each soak? Do you have bromine tabs in a feeder?
Sodium bromide just creates a bromide bank. It is NOT bromine. You need to add an oxidizer to create bromine. Sodium dichloro-s-tiazinetrione, aka Dichlor, is NOT the same as sodium bromide. Dichlor is chlorine which is an oxidizer. So the problem is that you did not add an oxidizer to the spa and now need to do so. You can use Dichlor, bleach, or non-chlorine shock (MPS) as an oxidizer. Obviously bleach is the least expensive. It will likely take rather large amounts to get rid of the bather waste.
You also need to lower your pH which generally rises in a spa due to carbon dioxide outgassing.
The test was the next morning, I do think now that my floater is out of bromine, I usually shock once a week but have ck'ed the levels every morning and afternoon. Ok, I see what you are saying, my bromine bank should be good but I need to dichlor to change it. Like I stated I use the frog system but the bromine starter packet listed the Sodium dichlorvos-s-triazinetrione as the main ingredient so I thought it was the same. Thanks for setting me straight. I did add the Leisure time bromine powder listed as Sodium Bromide which means I may have over increased my bromine bank. Could this develop into a problem that would require a drain/refill to start over or can I just be carefull on how much dichlor I shock with to manage the bromine??? So far the water has been clear and I have adjusted the PH and Alk constantly but noticed the dramatic changes in FC (bromine). Filters I replace every week since they are elements and do not seem to clean when washing. If I understand correctly being a Bromine system my CYA does not come into play?? This spa does not have an ozonator but I run the filter pump 24/7 and it has a cover and is only exposed to the midday sun approximately 3-4 hours. thanks for the help. I hope I am getting my head wrapped around this because I dont want to put too much trust in the pool stores and it seems TFP has a lot of really knowledgable help
Having too high a bromide bank is not a problem unless you have an ozonator, which you don't. With an ozonator, the ozone may make too much bromine if the bromide bank gets too high. In your case, the excess bromide is just like having extra reserve that can be turned into bromine, but it's not doing anything by itself. It's just a salt.
Ok, I shocked the spa and readings this morning are: FC 3.0, CC .5, PH 7.6, ALK 50-60, Cal Hard 60, guess I just got a knee jerk panic and like you stated it was normal. I have discovered my Bromine floater is depleted and will be changing that. One thing I did notice was an unusual high amount of foaming which from what I understand could be from to low of Cal hardness or low filter turnover rate. I also noticed cloudy water but since I increased my bromine bank I am going to allow the water to stabilize for a day and see if that clears up. 3 hours after I shocked the spa the FC jumped to 10 and 14 hours later it is at the above readings with the water considerably clearer.
A CH of 120-150 should reduce the foaming. Also, try and thoroughly rinse your swimsuits since foaming is mostly caused by leftover soap getting into the spa.
