After a couple of months trying 2-part bromine, I'm giving PristineBlue a try in my 320 ga. fiberglass spa.
The only people who use it are my girlfriend and me, so the kill time is not such an issue, and I figure I can always pour some bleach in if we're going to have guests.
So far we are both happy with it compared to the bromine.
Things I did not like about bromine were the smell and the water feel. Also, after about 2 weeks, hitting it with MPS would no longer create an active bromine residual, requiring dumping more bromide salts into the tub.
I got tired of smelling like bromine when I got out of the spa. I also never felt in control of the chemistry, and wound up testing the water a couple of times a day. And we went through pounds of MPS. I wound up shocking with bleach toward the end of the bromine run because I got tired of buying MPS.
So far the only negative with PB has been some greyish staining that happened around some of the blower holes after a week, but I took care of it pretty quickly.
The PristineBlue start-up instructions only call for adding PristineClean, their metal sequestrant, at the 1st 2-week interval, not at start-up. I added the recommended dose as soon as I saw the staining, and it got rid of the staining in a matter of minutes.
With my current understanding of water sanitization, I would be leery of using the stuff in a pool, but I think for my private spa, it has potential.
We both have noticed that our skin feels softer now after our marathon soaks (we spend at least 45 minutes a day in the tub, with the heat topping out at 102).
The only people who use it are my girlfriend and me, so the kill time is not such an issue, and I figure I can always pour some bleach in if we're going to have guests.
So far we are both happy with it compared to the bromine.
Things I did not like about bromine were the smell and the water feel. Also, after about 2 weeks, hitting it with MPS would no longer create an active bromine residual, requiring dumping more bromide salts into the tub.
I got tired of smelling like bromine when I got out of the spa. I also never felt in control of the chemistry, and wound up testing the water a couple of times a day. And we went through pounds of MPS. I wound up shocking with bleach toward the end of the bromine run because I got tired of buying MPS.
So far the only negative with PB has been some greyish staining that happened around some of the blower holes after a week, but I took care of it pretty quickly.
The PristineBlue start-up instructions only call for adding PristineClean, their metal sequestrant, at the 1st 2-week interval, not at start-up. I added the recommended dose as soon as I saw the staining, and it got rid of the staining in a matter of minutes.
With my current understanding of water sanitization, I would be leery of using the stuff in a pool, but I think for my private spa, it has potential.
We both have noticed that our skin feels softer now after our marathon soaks (we spend at least 45 minutes a day in the tub, with the heat topping out at 102).