Hot Tubs 101

Matt Giovanisci: 00:00

Hey, everyone, and welcome to hot tubs 101 by Swim University, where we help you keep your hot tub clean and clear all year. My name is Matt, and I'm the founder of swimuniversity.com. And on this episode, we're talking about bromine hot tub maintenance. Let's dive in. Real quick.

Matt Giovanisci: 00:29

If you want more help taking care of your hot tub, be sure to grab our free hot tub cheat sheet at swimu.com/spa sheet. Using bromine in your hot tub is actually a lot easier than using chlorine. Bromine is more stable at higher temperatures, and it tends to last longer in the water. But it only works well if you know when to add it to your hot tub and what other chemicals you need to add with it. So first, what is the difference between using bromine and chlorine?

Matt Giovanisci: 00:56

Well, both chlorine and bromine kill contaminants and keep your water sanitized. The biggest difference is how they do it. So chlorine oxidizes contaminants by invading them and destroying them from the inside out. As chlorine gets used up, it turns into combined chlorine, aka chloramines. And the more chloramines that you have, the less effective your chlorine will be at sanitizing your water.

Matt Giovanisci: 01:21

Chloramines are also the reason that you may notice a nasty chlorine like smell in your hot tub, that bleach smell. Bromine, on the other hand, ionizes contaminants, forcing the chemical bonds of the pollutants to actually break apart. So unlike chlorine, a lot of bromine will actually remain active and working in your water even after combining with contaminants. And that's why you never get that chlorine or bleach like smell in a bromine hot tub. Now because bromine is not as reactive as chlorine, it kills contaminants much more slowly.

Matt Giovanisci: 01:57

But bromine is actually more stable, especially in hot water or if your pH levels fluctuate. Just keep in mind that bromine breaks down under direct sunlight, so be sure to keep a cover on your hot tub if it's outdoors. Finally, water with bromine actually feels a little softer and gentler than water with chlorine, which is why it's a popular choice for people with sensitive eyes or skin. Okay. So how do you add bromine to a hot tub?

Matt Giovanisci: 02:25

Well, bromine comes in 2 forms. There's bromine tablets and bromine granules. Because it dissolves slowly, bromine tablets work really well in a floating dispenser. However, bromine tablets can dissolve too slowly to work in an automatic inline chemical feeder. So it usually takes about 3 to 5 bromine tablets added once a week to a floating dispenser to sanitize your hot tub.

Matt Giovanisci: 02:48

Just be sure to add or sorry. Just be sure to adjust the settings on your floater, and smaller floaters made for hot tubs or small pools will work best. Now bromine takes a while to build up in the water, and it can be hard to quickly raise your levels if they're low. So if you're using your hot tub for the first time or you've just filled it with fresh water, you'll wanna start by adding a bromine booster, aka sodium bromide. After adding sodium bromide, you'll then add an oxidizer aka, also known as non chlorine shock to the water.

Matt Giovanisci: 03:23

This will activate the bromide and convert it to active bromine sanitizer. After that, you can start regularly using just bromine tablets in a floater to keep your levels levels stable. So, like, what other chemicals do you need besides bromine? Well, you need a few other chemicals to keep your water balanced, like alkalinity increaser, which will help stabilize your pH levels, pH increaser and pH decreaser, which will help keep your pH in range, and balanced pH, prevents cloudy water, corrosion, skin, and eye irritation, all the good stuff. And then calcium hardness, which raises your calcium levels and helps protect your hot tub from corrosion and foaming.

Matt Giovanisci: 04:01

Just make sure you test before you add any calcium hardness because your water your source water may already have enough. Now you'll also need chemicals that we've mentioned before, bromine tablets and a floating dispenser. You'll need bromine booster, AKA sodium bromide, and an oxidizer, which is AKA non chlorine shock. That's usually how it's sold. The final chemical on this list is what we're saying is chlorine shock.

Matt Giovanisci: 04:25

Okay? Now I just said non chlorine shock, but I'm also saying you can use chlorine shock. While you'll never wanna combine regular chlorine and bromine as a sanitizer, you can use chlorine shock in a bromine hot tub. Chlorine shock is great to add to your water after a party or heavy hot tub use. You can also add it weekly if you're noticing cloudy, murky water.

Matt Giovanisci: 04:50

Make sure though that your chlorine shock also contains an oxidizer. And so always buy chlorine shock for a hot tub. Now here's how to test your water levels including your bromine. Your bromine level should be between 3 5 parts per million or PPM. If it drops a lot lower, your water isn't sanitized.

Matt Giovanisci: 05:10

And if it goes much higher, your hot tub will be unsafe to use. So test your water once a week to make sure that the levels are in range. Test strips are an easy, affordable way to monitor your chemistry. Just dip it in the water, wait about 15 seconds, and then compare the strip to the packaging. But for more accurate results, a little bit slower but more accurate, you can use a liquid test kit.

Matt Giovanisci: 05:32

Now, now that well, okay. So that takes care of that. Now that you know what chemicals you need and how to test your water, here's the order in which you should add your chemicals. Now be sure to wait at least 20 minutes between adding each chemical before retesting your water and moving on to the next step. Keep your hot tub open, meaning the cover off, running with the jets on but the blower off.

Matt Giovanisci: 05:55

Alright? And or if you have if you have multiple air valves, make sure that's all turned off. And make sure that your water is heated up to the right level, not cold water. You just want hot it's a hot tub. You want heated water to help the chemicals dissolve.

Matt Giovanisci: 06:09

So number 1, you wanna start by balancing your alkalinity, and this will help your pH from fluctuating. Number 2 is you wanna adjust your pH with a pH decreaser or an increaser. And if you can get if you can't get your pH and alkalinity levels to balance, you know, you can, there's so much more information on our website to do that. We've have other episodes you can check out. Shouldn't be too hard.

Matt Giovanisci: 06:30

Number 3 is if you've just added fresh water, you wanna add sodium bromine, which is sometimes sold as bromine booster. You'll see it. Number 4 is alkalinity or sorry. No. No.

Matt Giovanisci: 06:42

It's not alkalinity. Number 4 is oxidizer, aka non chlorine shock. Now, this will activate the sodium bromine and convert it to an active bromine sanitizer. Number 5 is you wanna add your bromine floater. Retest your water weekly and refill your floater once a week with a few bromine tablets.

Matt Giovanisci: 07:00

They come in little, I think they're about 1 inch tablets. And number 6, once a week, you're gonna add a non chlorine or a chlorine shock. Again, both sold specifically for hot tubs depending on how your water looks and how often you use your hot tub. Chlorine shock will clear up murky water and quickly kill bacteria and contaminants, whereas non chlorine shock, the oxidizer, is a gentler option that'll help reactivate your bromine. And finally, here's how I would switch from chlorine to bromine if you wanted to do that.

Matt Giovanisci: 07:37

If you're already using chlorine, making the switch to bromine is actually pretty easy. The next time you drain your hot tub and change out your water, simply add bromine instead of chlorine. Just never mix chlorine or bromine chemicals together outside of your hot tub, and consider buying a fresh floating dispenser. And once you start using bromine, do not use chlorine pucks or chlorine granules. But like we said, chlorine shock is actually okay to use.

Matt Giovanisci: 08:08

Now remember, if you need more help with hot tub maintenance, grab our free hot tub cheat sheet at swimu.com/spa sheet. And if you found this episode helpful, subscribe for more pool maintenance tips on your favorite podcasting app. And when you do, please leave us a review. Your your support will help more hot tub owners just like you find this show. That's it.

Matt Giovanisci: 08:29

Thanks again, and happy soaking.