Still confused on bromine

[Awoodwaring]

I am using the above products: bromine tablets, granular bromine and granular chlorine.

I am doing something wrong...the chemical smell makes my eyes water and makes it hard to breathe.

Am I supposed to add the granular bromine and chlorine to the spa after every use (per instructions), even with the tablets? Do I just add one or the other?

I read the bromine thing above and I am still confused...I guess because I have granular bromine and the tablets.

Please help?!

 

[pooldv]

I don't know a whole lot about bromine but there is more here, How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?

If you are thinking about ditching bromine I have used this method in my tub for about 4 years and it is great, How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

 

[Isaac-1]

Just a follow up to the above message, the only way to really get rid of bromine is through water replacement, so if you want to switch to the dichlor then bleach method you will need to drain and refill your spa. In general it is suggested to drain and refill 3 or so times per year anyway.

 

[Awoodwaring]

Even if I refill, I am still not sure the process of adding bromine.

The pool is easy with the info on this site...test and add chlorine (and whatever else), if needed.

However, I don't know how to add the bromine when I have tablets and granular. Do I add both? And, do I keep adding the chlorine?

 

[pooldv]

The bromine link in post #2 above should answer those questions.

 

[Awoodwaring]

The bromine link in post #2 above should answer those questions.

Yep, that is the post I am still confused about. I don't see where it talks about adding bromine to maintain. I see shocking the system, which I read as chlorine. Is there somewhere I should look in those 7 pages for more specifics for people like me that just don't get it?

 

[JVTrain]

There are two ways to go forward when using bromine for sanitation, assuming a fresh fill.

#1: Establish a bromine bank by adding sodium bromide to the spa. Usually adding 50 ppm of sodium bromide is sufficient. Once you have this bromine bank, use either bleach, dichlor (your chlorinating sanitizer in the image) or monopersulfate (MPS, the Spa Oxidizer in your image) to convert some of that bromide bank into bromine, your active sanitizer. Periodically, especially after soaks and for routine maintenance, you need to add bleach or MPS to reactivate bromide to bromine as it is consumed by organics. That chlorinating sanitizer you have also adds CYA to the water, but that's irrelevant for bromine sanitation. Bleach is cheaper, but dichlor or MPS will do as well.

#2: Establish a bromine bank by adding sodium bromide to the spa. Same as above. Then you add a bromine tablet floater to the spa. You need to adjust the flow/opening of the floater to provide adequate dissolving of tablets to maintain bromine levels. You can still use any of the oxidizer products (bleach, MPS or dichlor) to shock the spa. That is, to quickly raise the bromine levels if needed. I'd recommend doing that weekly or after heavy usage, as per the sticky thread.

 

[Brian VT]

Sodium bromide in your water does nothing by itself. An oxidizer (such as bleach) converts it to bromine, which is a sanitizer.

Maintaining sanitation via bromine is just making sure that you have enough sodium bromide in the water and the right amount of oxidizer to keep bromine at proper sanitation levels.

Those tablets you have contain bromide and an oxidizer. You need to find a setting on your floater to keep proper sanitation levels when the tub is not being used. You'll then need to add an oxidizer after bathing to account for the extra load. You may not have enough sodium bromide in your water for the extra oxidizer to act on so you should get a "starter pack" to create a bromide "bank".

 

[pooldv]

Only the first post is the part that describes how to use bromine. The rest is member discussions.

My understanding is that you add 30-50 ppm of sodium bromide at the beginning and that is your bromide bank. Then use bleach/chlorine to maintain 4-6 ppm of bromine. The bromide bank stays there forever converting to bromine with chlorine and back to bromide as it oxidizes waste then back to bromine in a continuous loop cycle. The bromide bank never goes away, it is a one time add when you fill the tub.

 

[Isaac-1]

Ah, you generally don't add bromine to maintain it, unlike Chlorine which is a gas at room temperature, Bromine is a liquid at room temperature, so you only need to reactivate the bromine once it combines with organic compounds to form bromide as it never leaves the pool water without water exchange. This is where the chlorine comes in, it will oxidize the waste and reactivate the bromine compounds that are still trapped in the water. The Chlorine will then off gas and the oxidized solid organic remains will be cleared by the filter.

 

[Awoodwaring]

Ok...this makes way more sense! So, we have tablets and have been adding the granular bromine with chlorine....over kill, obviously. Stupid directions.

This is why I am on this site...could never balance the pool until I started using this site's method.

Is it true that high bromine levels can only go away with a drain? Seems like it would act more like chlorine, burning off over time.

 

[Brian VT]

It doesn't "burn off" very much. You'd need to drain.

 

[tucsontico]

Ok...this makes way more sense! So, we have tablets and have been adding the granular bromine with chlorine....over kill, obviously. Stupid directions.

This is why I am on this site...could never balance the pool until I started using this site's method.

Is it true that high bromine levels can only go away with a drain? Seems like it would act more like chlorine, burning off over time.

Yes, it is true that bromine will only go away by draining the spa. While it is used as a sanitizer, that is where the similarity to chlorine ends. Bromine will not "gas off" like chlorine. Read the Issac-1 post again to thoroughly understand the reason this happens.