How much chlorine does your hot tub use?

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bedelliott

bedelliott

0
Jun 13, 2017
101
Austin, TX
I'm a new hot tub owner and am starting to learn about my tub's chlorine/bromine demand, but I have no idea what's typical for people - can you please share what your tub's demand is based on bather load and also if you know what your tub demands when it's not in use? Ours is 102 degrees. For example, have you maintained your tub long enough to know how much sanitizer you put in after people use it, maybe x ounces of 10% chlorinating liquid/dichlor per person that's been in it 30 mins or an hour? Then how much you add when it's not in use.
TIA for any and all experiences.
 
So no two pools respond the same, and a hot tub takes it even further that it doesn't respond the same way twice. :ROFLMAO:

There are just too many variables for the insane bather load (proportionately) of a spa. This time you soak you have little residual soaps/shampoos and also don't happen to sweat as much. Next time it's you and your spouse. The time after that your freshly cleaned suit is loaded with laundry sauces and your hair wasn't completely rinsed in the shower.

Somebody else has their own smorgasbord of current and residual bather load going on, and +/- 150 gallons of water to disperse it.

Test frequently until you get a feel for how your spa responds to your typical use. Adjust as necessary.
 
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Two adults, 30-45 mins daily, it's just us so we don't often shower before the hot tub etc, 450gallon, probably put a cup of 12.5% in daily, give or take.

It's people soup... Don't be shy ;)
 
I have a swg that takes care of my standby chlorination.
When starting my soak in target range for my cya,
after a 1 person 45 minute- 1 hour soak I generally put in about 5ppm worth of chlorine (either bleach or dichlor depending upon my current needs) more if it’s longer or two of us. My tub is 250 gallons.
You mentioned bromine & chlorine- is your tub a bromine tub?
As Dude said- no two tubs are the same, your testing must be your guide.
Feed it however much it takes to maintain adequate sanitizer levels.
 
Mdragger88 said:
I have a swg that takes care of my standby chlorination.
When starting my soak in target range for my cya,
after a 1 person 45 minute- 1 hour soak I generally put in about 5ppm worth of chlorine (either bleach or dichlor depending upon my current needs) more if it’s longer or two of us. My tub is 250 gallons.
You mentioned bromine & chlorine- is your tub a bromine tub?
As Dude said- no two tubs are the same, your testing must be your guide.
Feed it however much it takes to maintain adequate sanitizer levels.
Click to expand...
I agree that no 2 tubs will act the same, I was still wanting to hear other people's experience to see if mine is way out of whaxk or not, but given I have no organics (inc the plumbing) I suppose it's impossible for mine to be out of whack. Right now I'm finishing up some brominating granular (SpaGuard, 82% dichlor), so I use that until my CYA gets around 30 then I use the same 10% bleach I use for my pool, then the next month I use the brominating granular to get my CYA back up then switch to the chlorinating liquid. Once this brominating granular is gone I'll then drain & move to a pure stabilizer/chlorinating liquid solution, same as I use for my pool. I've only been testing/etc. for a week but so far it seems that 1.9 FC per bather (typically 30-45 mins in the tub, 102 degrees, which is 1 oz of my 10% per bather) takes care of my bather load, so based on the responses so far that seems pretty good, and for non-bathing time my tub seems to demand around .2 FC/hr. Thank you!
 
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bedelliott said:
I agree that no 2 tubs will act the same, I was still wanting to hear other people's experience to see if mine is way out of whaxk or not, but given I have no organics (inc the plumbing) I suppose it's impossible for mine to be out of whack. Right now I'm finishing up some brominating granular (SpaGuard, 82% dichlor), so I use that until my CYA gets around 30 then I use the same 10% bleach I use for my pool, then the next month I use the brominating granular to get my CYA back up then switch to the chlorinating liquid. Once this brominating granular is gone I'll then drain & move to a pure stabilizer/chlorinating liquid solution, same as I use for my pool. I've only been testing/etc. for a week but so far it seems that 1.9 FC per bather (typically 30-45 mins in the tub, 102 degrees, which is 1 oz of my 10% per bather) takes care of my bather load, so based on the responses so far that seems pretty good, and for non-bathing time my tub seems to demand around .2 FC/hr. Thank you!
Click to expand...
You are describing the dichlor then bleach method but if you’re using sodium bromide mixed with dichlor your sanitizer is not chlorine- its bromine.
The chlorine is only the oxidizer/activator in this equation.
The dichlor & or bleach you add will simply “activate” the bromide you have already added and the result is measured in Total Bromine.
There’s no reason to target a specific cya level.
It is imperative that you are testing correctly for Total Bromine - not fc.
You can use your fas/dpd test or the OTO test.
With the fas/dpd test you multiply your fc result by 2.5 to calculate the total bromine level.
With the OTO test you simply read the bromine side of the comparator.
You want to maintain 4-6ppm total bromine. You do not want to enter the spa if the Total Bromine level is over 10ppm.

How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?

Originally Posted by waterbear There is a lot of misinformation on the proper way to use Bromine so I hope this primer is helpful. First, you need to establish a bromide reserve in the water. Bromine tablets can do it by themselves but it can take literally weeks until enough dissolves. Some...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Mdragger88 said:
You are describing the dichlor then bleach method but if you’re using sodium bromide mixed with dichlor your sanitizer is not chlorine- its bromine.
The chlorine is only the oxidizer/activator in this equation.
The dichlor & or bleach you add will simply “activate” the bromide you have already added and the result is measured in Total Bromine.
There’s no reason to target a specific cya level.
It is imperative that you are testing correctly for Total Bromine - not fc.
You can use your fas/dpd test or the OTO test.
With the fas/dpd test you multiply your fc result by 2.5 to calculate the total bromine level.
With the OTO test you simply read the bromine side of the comparator.
You want to maintain 4-6ppm total bromine. You do not want to enter the spa if the Total Bromine level is over 10ppm.

How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?

Originally Posted by waterbear There is a lot of misinformation on the proper way to use Bromine so I hope this primer is helpful. First, you need to establish a bromide reserve in the water. Bromine tablets can do it by themselves but it can take literally weeks until enough dissolves. Some...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Thank you, and I agree on all fronts, but since my pool fas/dpd FC test also works on my bromine tub I think in terms of FC to keep life a bit simpler (multiplied by 2.25 for bromine). When exhaust my brominating granular I’ll switch to dichlor/bleach or full on stabilizer/bleach, then I can use everything I already keep on hand for my pool. Thank you!
 
Me being me, I’d ditch the bromine now. My reading comprehension is not great but from what I read it seems “bromine” has complicated your life. $20-$30-$40 thrown in the trash may be worth it to you in the long run??? IDK.

My 2 cents…
 
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Newdude said:
So no two pools respond the same, and a hot tub takes it even further that it doesn't respond the same way twice. :ROFLMAO:

There are just too many variables for the insane bather load (proportionately) of a spa. This time you soak you have little residual soaps/shampoos and also don't happen to sweat as much. Next time it's you and your spouse. The time after that your freshly cleaned suit is loaded with laundry sauces and your hair wasn't completely rinsed in the shower.

Somebody else has their own smorgasbord of current and residual bather load going on, and +/- 150 gallons of water to disperse it.

Test frequently until you get a feel for how your spa responds to your typical use. Adjust as necessary.
Click to expand...
Regarding your first sentence about the tub not responding the same way twice... shouldn't my sanitizer demand be somewhat similar day to day if there's no one using the tub? I test every morning and every evening before someone uses it, but even for days when it doesn't get used one day it can be 5x the demand as another day (ranges from .05 ppm FC/hr to .25), I thought if the lid was never opened for 48 hrs (except to add sanitizer), the demand would have been pretty steady, but is that not the case? if so, why would that be?
 
Gebo said:
Me being me, I’d ditch the bromine now. My reading comprehension is not great but from what I read it seems “bromine” has complicated your life. $20-$30-$40 thrown in the trash may be worth it to you in the long run??? IDK.

My 2 cents…
Click to expand...
Maybe a good idea - I just don't get the whole "bromide bank" thing and how sanitizer "activates the bromide bank", I don'ts the point of a bromide bank if it doesn't make the use of sanitizer more efficient. I guess people use bromine just because it comes in chunks you can stick in a tower (like pucks for a pool), are there other reasons people use bromine? Is there an advantage to having the bromide bank?
 
bedelliott said:
Regarding your first sentence about the tub not responding the same way twice... shouldn't my sanitizer demand be somewhat similar day to day if there's no one using the tub?
Click to expand...
Maybe. If it remains similar, fill after fill, then great. But trust your testing when it changes its mind on fill 3.

All fills will get away from you eventually no matter how hard you try. It may be wonky leading up to that 3 to 6 month mark when it's time to dump.
 
Newdude said:
Maybe. If it remains similar, fill after fill, then great. But trust your testing when it changes its mind on fill 3.

All fills will get away from you eventually no matter how hard you try. It may be wonky leading up to that 3 to 6 month mark when it's time to dump.
Click to expand...
Makes sense, but right now I’m 2 weeks into fresh water (after a deep Ahhh!some purge), and I’m getting the big fluctuations. I’ll keep going and see if a pattern reveals itself.
 
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I'm smiling and in a good mood. Don't want you to get the wrong idea. But, what is your definition of a "Deep Ahhsome purge"? My definition is using the Gel at
100 degrees and running 3-4 cycles. Let the tub sit overnight and then add about 1/2 original dose in the morning and run 3-4 more cycles. Wiping all the crud off
between every cycle. Am I overdoing it? Sure. But then I use the liquid every Monday as well.
 
Gebo said:
I'm smiling and in a good mood. Don't want you to get the wrong idea. But, what is your definition of a "Deep Ahhsome purge"? My definition is using the Gel at
100 degrees and running 3-4 cycles. Let the tub sit overnight and then add about 1/2 original dose in the morning and run 3-4 more cycles. Wiping all the crud off
between every cycle. Am I overdoing it? Sure. But then I use the liquid every Monday as well.
Click to expand...
I like your approach, I actually did a little bit more than that over two days.
 
bedelliott said:
Regarding your first sentence about the tub not responding the same way twice... shouldn't my sanitizer demand be somewhat similar day to day if there's no one using the tub? I test every morning and every evening before someone uses it, but even for days when it doesn't get used one day it can be 5x the demand as another day (ranges from .05 ppm FC/hr to .25), I thought if the lid was never opened for 48 hrs (except to add sanitizer), the demand would have been pretty steady, but is that not the case? if so, why would that be?
Click to expand...
There is a standby sanitizer demand- the hot tub eats around the clock.
 
bedelliott said:
Thank you, and I agree on all fronts, but since my pool fas/dpd FC test also works on my bromine tub I think in terms of FC to keep life a bit simpler (multiplied by 2.25 for bromine). When exhaust my brominating granular I’ll switch to dichlor/bleach or full on stabilizer/bleach, then I can use everything I already keep on hand for my pool. Thank you!
Click to expand...
I wanted to make sure you’re testing properly- 5ppm fc (a perfectly normal & safe fc level) = 12.5 Total Bromine (not safe to enter the tub)
& also understand what’s happening.
There is zero need to keep track of your cya level.
Also, a bromine tub tends to hold the sanitizer level more steadily than a chlorine tub & requires less babysitting as bromine is a little more stable in the hot water which is why some people prefer it. Especially if using a br floater.
A chlorine tub requires lots of manual dosing. Comparing our fc demand to your br demand is likely not going to be similar.
A 3 step bromine system does not require this as much.
The 2 step a little more so.
You basically need to use enough of your dichlor/sodium bromide mix to achieve 4-6 ppm total br & replenish when necessary.
Once your “bank” is established you then can maintain the 4-6 total br with liquid chlorine.

Your thread should probably be titled:
How much chlorine does your bromine tub use.
 

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