How to Lower Bromine in a Hot Tub
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 am the founder of swimuniversity.com. And on this episode, we're talking about how to lower bromine in a hot tub. Let's jump in.
Matt Giovanisci:Real quick. 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. Too much bromine in your hot tub can corrode your hot tub parts. It can damage your pump, and it can even cause respiratory issues. Thankfully, lowering your cooler sorry, chlorine.
Matt Giovanisci:Lowering your bromine is an easy process. And depending on your current levels, you may not have to do anything at all. There are, 2 easy ways to lower bromine and then and the first involves 3 easy steps. 1, stop adding more bromine. Duh.
Matt Giovanisci:2, run your hot tub with the cover off. And 3, dilute it with fresh water. It's that simple. Okay. So how to tell if there's too much bromine in your hot tub currently?
Matt Giovanisci:So it's hard to tell, unlike chlorine, it's hard to tell if you have, high bromine just by the smell alone because bromine has a low chemical odor, which is why it's commonly used in indoor hot tubs and swimming pools. So the most reliable way to know if you have too much bromine in your hot tub is to test your water, and I recommend using test strips. Most test strips come with both bromine and chlorine readings, but you just wanna make sure that it actually has bromine before you just any old test strip. Now, when it let me just be very clear about the whole test strip thing, cause I'll probably mention this on many, many episodes. Personally, I love test strips.
Matt Giovanisci:They are super easy to use. They are incredibly fast. However, they are not nearly as accurate as a liquid test kit or even taking it to a store or some sort of retailer where they'll do a liquid test for you. Now, if if you go to a store and they're just using test strips and a computer, that's basically the same thing. You could do that at home.
Matt Giovanisci:But if they're using, an advanced liquid testing lab, well, then, yes, you're gonna get more accurate stuff. Right? You're gonna get more accurate readings. However, for me, just it's hot tub care. It's like it's we don't need to be super accurate here.
Matt Giovanisci:You know? We're not, you know, we're not, chemists. So for me, I'm like, look. Is does it have bromine in the water? Great.
Matt Giovanisci:Does it have is the pH and alkalinity balanced? Are they are they in range? Because the ranges are pretty wide. It's like, yeah. Okay.
Matt Giovanisci:Well, then move on. So, yes, I I do get pushback because, yes, test strips are not as accurate. However, they are fast, they are cheap, and they are easy. Alright? Now, did you know, just as an aside, that bromine and chlorine are actually cousins?
Matt Giovanisci:Now unlike bromine, chlorine, like you probably have smelled before, has a very strong chemical odor. Have you ever been to an indoor pool? Have you ever been to a water park? When you add chlorine to your hot tub or pool water, it's measured as free chlorine. As free chlorine fights contaminants, it becomes a chloramine, which is measured by total chlorine.
Matt Giovanisci:This is what causes that strong bleach like smell actually. So that means your free and total chlorine levels should be between 1 3 parts per million if you use chlorine. My point is, is that when you smell that bleachy smell, that means that the chlorine is in the air and not in the water. So just a just a little FYI, alright? Now, if you're gonna be using a test strip and you're gonna be checking your bromine, just also make sure that you're balancing your pH, alkalinity, and all the other things.
Matt Giovanisci:Alright? So what's the right bromine level for your hot tub? Well, your bromine level should be between 3 5 parts per million. So a little bit higher than chlorine. If you use a mineral dispenser, you know, like the, Frog At Ease or the Nature 2 or or some sort of mineral, sanitizer, then you only need to keep your bromine at around 1 part per million.
Matt Giovanisci:It's basically just a backup because the the minerals, usually copper and silver, are going to kill most of the bacteria, but they can't guarantee it's gonna kill everything, so that's why you have some sort of backup. Now, not all mineral dispensers, actually are compatible with bromine. So you wanna make sure that you find the one that is compatible with bromine. In fact, the one I think I just mentioned isn't. I think the at ease is only compatible with chlorine.
Matt Giovanisci:I'm not a 100% sure about the nature too off the top of my head, but, yeah, you should be you just wanna check. I know leisure time makes a mineral, system that, is compatible with both chlorine and bromine. Alright? So how do you lower bromine in a hot tub? That's what that's what we came here to talk about.
Matt Giovanisci:It's one of the simplest problems you fix to fix in a hot tub. 1, again, stop adding bromine. Right? Seems obvious, but you're adding too much sanitizer, so stop adding new doses of bromine to your water. That means turning off an automatic chemical feeder if you have it, removing your floater, or stopping any source that's adding bromine, which could be just you doing it.
Matt Giovanisci:Number 2 is you want to just run your hot tub with the cover off. So once you stop adding bromine, your bromine levels will actually naturally decrease over time. And this usually takes, about a day or 2, but you can speed up that process with water evaporation which is why we say remove your hot tub cover and turn your jets on and this will help the bromine evaporate. Now, as the water evaporates, you'll also notice your water level drop and so make sure your water level doesn't drop below the skimmer port while you're running your hot tub. And be sure to stay out of the hot tub while your bromine levels are high.
Matt Giovanisci:Number 3 is diluting the water. So once your water level has dropped a few inches, from all the running and from the the cover being off and the heat escaping and the evaporation, then you can add some new water. Refill your hot tub with fresh water. You can do it with filtered water, meaning, not like bottled water, but you can use a, a hose filter that you add to the end of your hose and that will help, remove any contaminants from your from your water. This is especially useful if you have well water.
Matt Giovanisci:And then let that water circulate. So this should help lower bromine levels, and then what you wanna do is make sure you test the water again before you get back in. Make sure that your sanitizer levels, your bromine levels have dropped. And then you're probably gonna need to adjust your alkalinity and pH because they will drop also. Test and rebalance everything.
Matt Giovanisci:Again, I recommend using test strips, quick and easy. And if your bromine is still too high after this process, consider removing some water manually. You can use a bucket. You can use a hose siphon. You can use a sump pump.
Matt Giovanisci:You can use the drain in your in your hot tub and just lower it without, you know, stop wasting the time of just letting it run. Lower it and then boom, add some fresh water, you should be good to go. Now, there is another way. I did mention there was 2 ways. That's the easiest way.
Matt Giovanisci:Right? Which requires the most steps, I guess, but it's but it's is it the easiest way? It's certainly the cheapest way. But you can lower bromine with a bromine neutralizer. You can use, a chemical.
Matt Giovanisci:It's, sodium thiosulfite. Sorry, not sulfite, thiosulfate. Right? So, if you don't wanna drain the hot tub or wait for the water to evaporate, or you don't wanna lose water, or you don't wanna adjust your chemicals, I totally get it. If you wanna buy a chemical, you can buy what's called, a chlorine or a bromine neutralizer, which helps lower bromine levels and it actually lowers chlorine too.
Matt Giovanisci:This chemical will continue to destroy bromine in your hot tub until the neutralizer is completely used up. So it's really easy to use too much. I only recommend this using this if you're like having people over and it's important that your hot tubs up and running and your bromine's like so high and you just don't have the time to lower the bromine naturally and you just, you know, add a little bit and follow the instructions. Alright? Follow the instructions because, yeah, that'll be important.
Matt Giovanisci:Finally, let's say you got your water all good to go, how do you keep your bromine levels in range and not go too high? There are 4 steps, super easy. Test and balance your water weekly. Again, I recommend using test strips, test the alkalinity, test your pH, test your bromine once a week. At the very least, if you're using your hot tub way more often, I also recommend just testing as often as possible, especially before you get in.
Matt Giovanisci:Make sure it's good to go. You can also test for calcium hardness if you want to, but if, if you're if you're a good hot tub owner and you're draining your hot tub every 3 to 4 months, then you probably don't need to add too much calcium hardness. Watch your bromine dosing. Make sure that your bromine dispensers, like your floaters, your chemical feeders, are full, but they're not pouring too much, bromine into the hot tub. And add bromine in the proper amount relative to your hot tub's size.
Matt Giovanisci:So, always accurately measure your bromine if you're adding the granules by hand, which which is the way I like to do it. I like to just add it on my own. Just be very specific. Number 3 is regularly run and clean your filters because this will help, if you might you might only have one filter, but if you have multiple filters, this will help keep your bromine properly circulating in the water. And then number 4 is use an oxidizer, which is a non chlorine shock, and I know I said chlorine, once a week or after every time you soak in it.
Matt Giovanisci:So adding an oxidizer will help keep your bromine refreshed and active so you don't have to keep adding new bromine to your water all the time. Now there is such a thing as bromine shock, which is just a high concentrated dose of bromine. But there's this thing called, non chlorine. They they they it's called oxidizer, but they'll sometimes reference it as non chlorine shock. But you can also reference it as non bromine shock.
Matt Giovanisci:This is made with a specific chemical, and I I always have to remind myself, potassium mono yeah. Potassium per monophosulfate. You have to look for that ingredient. Make sure there is no dichlor or trichlor or bromine in the in the product. You wanna look for something that just says non chlorine or non bromine, and you should be good to go.
Matt Giovanisci:And then that will help. You don't have to add a bromine as much if you use that. So that's it. That's how you lower bromine. Remember, if you need more help with hot tub maintenance, grab our free hot tub cheatsheet@swimview.com/spa sheet.
Matt Giovanisci:And if you found this episode helpful, subscribe for more hot tub maintenance tips on your favorite podcasting app. And when you do, please leave us a review. It means the world to us. Your support will help more hot tub owners just like you find this show. That's it.
Matt Giovanisci:Thanks again and happy soaking.
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