Bromine vs. Chlorine for hot tub?

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I've have a Softub hot tub & I keep getting folliculitis only on my arms, not on the rest of my body. I've emptied the hot tub 3 times & "started over" with the chlorine. I've been really on top of adding the chlorine & my test strips are always perfect. PH is perfect, alkalinity is perfect. Someone told me to try bromine instead that maybe I was having a reaction to the chlorine. But if that's the case why is it ONLY my forearms? Weird. Any help would be appreciated.



Comments

  1. Dr. Hot Tub Wilmington NC says:
    May 31, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Bromine is what you need to be using first and foremost. AS the other person stated, chlorine is not able to be stable at higher temps unlike Bromine that is until 116 degrees. Keep your Bromine level at 2ppm. Another problem you might not realize is that All Halogens (Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine) all go bad in a short period of time. The average life span of chlorine staying effective(60% or better strength left) is 9 months. If your buying from a place like the big box stores there's a good chance that stuff came from China and is already 4 months old. So buy small amounts. Another thing I want to make sure you do is keep it out of hot and cold and also your test strips. They react to moisture and easily do not give you a correct reading. Your soft tub is not easily plumbed for an ozonator but if they have come up with one I would prefer you to use it also. You CANNOT use only an ozonator to sanitize. I use all of the above but since I have a great Cold Plasma Cornoa Discharge ozonator I keep my Bromine level at 1pmm. I also use a non-chlorine shock for your weekly "Shocking" (oxidizing) (Chemicals:Potassium peroxymonopersulfate). Since your tub is most likey around 220 gal. I would like for you to put in 3oz of non-chlorine shock once a week, keep your bromine level at 2ppm. It's not a reaction to chlorine since you would also with bromine (being a Halogen). I would suggest you use a floatre with bromine tablets but also make sure you start out with 2 2oz packets of sodium brominde to create a "residual bank". Do get some Bromine concentrate to that you may need to add to boost up your ppm level from time to time. If you can get an ozonator do and that will allo you to lower your bromine to a non-smell level. (.5-1ppm) Any questions feel free to write. By the way, you did not mention your hardness level. (properly hot tub water's hardness level is 250-400ppm (use calcium chloride))

  2. dudesweet123 says:
    May 31, 2009 at 9:26 am

    its not unlikely for it to only happen on ur forearms… u might have dry skin or some previous problem that u dont no about…. try going to ur doctor

  3. ThatNJguy says:
    May 31, 2009 at 9:26 am

    arms are a common place for breakouts, unless theres a doctor somewhere on this site i doubt you'll get an exact answer. I've also never heard of using bromine but if cholorine is irritating your skin i geuss you don't have a choice.

  4. T C says:
    May 31, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Bromine works better in the hot tub. The heat seems to deplete the chlorine to quickly. I have been to a dermatologist for the same thing from the hot tub. He said to use skin cream after the tub.

  5. Dont touch that dial says:
    May 31, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Had the best results w/an ozonator.
    It requires more daily 'filter' time but never had to add any chemicals.
    Even after two years of only topping off the tub
    the water appeared to be cleaner than the municipal tap water.

    ie:
    http://www.spadepot.com/spacyclopedia/ozonator-installation.htm

    Prior to that tried bromine and chlorine.
    The bromine was less offensive but more expensive and was broken down by sunlight faster…

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