Bromine pool - no detectable bromine.

[ptrdvs44]

I have a 30,000 gal bromine pool with a Hayward chemical feeder full of bromine pellets running at max opening. I have been shocking the pool with chlorine shock once a week or every ten days. Overall the pool looks great. ph is 7.6, total alkalinity 120. I have some residual cya from having used sodium dichloro (around 40ppm). Calc hardness is 280. But for two seasons now, except for brief periods after shocking, I have no detectable bromine in the pool. My thought is that the bromine has been burned off, the brominator isn't enough to provide a bromine base and perhaps I should add sodium bromide. What do you think? Also what kind of shock should I be using/. Thanks

[aylad]

I'm gonna let Ben or one of the others familiar with Bromine systems answer your questions....I just wanted to welcome you to the forum!

[PoolDoc]

You don't need sodium bromide - there is plenty there already, unless you just drained your pool and refilled. More likely, you've got some algae growth that coupled with the intense sun we've had, has consumed your bromine, which can NOT be stablized against loss to sunlight.

Actually, you can just pour bleach in, till you get a bromine level -- 2 gallons of plain 6% bleach each evening will leave you with the bromine equivalent of 4 ppm of chlorine overnight. If you do that for a week, AND brush the pool carefully, there's a good chance you'll eradicate any growing algae.

But running an outdoor bromine pool during a sunny summer will always be costly.

[ptrdvs44]

I followed your advice adding the bleach every night and scrubbing the walls. The pool water is sparkling and the pool looks very clean.. In the morning after shocking the pool I am reading 4 or 5 ppm chlorine equivalent. In the evening maybe 1ppm or less. So the bromine is obviously burning off during the day. After the week of adding bleach every night can I just let the pool go and shock say weekly or if I see algae? Does it matter in terms of pool sanitation that the bromine has all have burned off? Is the flow through the brominator of any consequence? Thanks again for your help