self standing Spa and new pool

HELP! I have lots of kids coming over and I don't want to mess up something!!!! I have a seperate spa and pool, all new this past year. I am using bleach totally in the pool and love it. Kept the pool open all winter just to look at it!! This winter I used "Brilliance" (I think it is bromine)in the spa because it was new,easy and I there was no overlap with the pool. My kids will go back and forth now that it is warm enough to swim in the pool. Can I use the bleach in the spa? Or does it disappear too fast with the Heat of the spa water? The spa store said to use the Brilliance and it would be ok in the pool, BUT I know better than to believe him!

Please Help!!! If bromine gets in the big pool will it be OK? Can I use bleach in the spa?? My pool is in great shape and I love the bleach, but I am not sure how it works with the heat of the spa since they are seperate. There has to be someone else who has dealt with this. HELP!

I am not an expert but I don't think the little bit of bromine that might get into the pool would be a problem.
As far as using bleach in the spa, you can. It might be a bit harder to maintain a residual FC than in the pool because of the heat and the bather load in the smaller volume of water, and if the spa is outside you will need stabilizer; but if you shock (throw in some more bleach) after every use, monitor your chlorine levels regularly (run your FC about 2 ppm above what you run the pool at), and keep your water balanced it should be just fine. (not too different from using bleach in the pool after all!)

The water needs to be balanced the same as the pool if you switch the spa to chlorine and you will need to drain it first or it will continue to be a bromine spa. It is recommended that spas be drained and refilled every 3-4 months anyway because of the bather load vs. the water volume so you might want to wait until then...or until you use up your bromine.
di-chlor is the form of chlorine that is usually recommended to sanitize a spa. It is stabilized but you don't have to worry about the CYA levels going too high since the spa will be drained and refilled periodically. Might be the easiest solution. Then when you need to shock you can use bleach for that.
Check out this page on the sister website PoolSolutions
http://www.poolsolutions.com/tips/tip10.html
for info on bromine

I used to have a portable spa that I kept on chlorine for 2 years and then switched to bromine becuase I thought it would be easier. My experience (and I knew a lot less then so that might be why) was that bromine was not easier than chlorine but had it's own problems that were slightly different in terms of water balance. Both sanitizers required the same amount of maintenance, just in different ways.

Hope this is helpful to you.

P.S. from what I can see the Brilliance line by Arch Chemical:eek: (the same folks who gave us BAQUA:eek: products for pools and spas and the HTH 'dual action':eek: trichlor tabs with copper!) is a bromine/monopersulfate system...pretty standard actually despite all the hype. (Bromine needs either chlorine or monopersulfate to activate it) They keep talking about the 'mineral salts' that is added to it. I would bet money that they mean borates (borax)!

I too am wondering if I can maintain my free-standing spa with chlorine. Any tips on how to start? My spa is empty now because I repairing a light fixture but I would love to maintain it with the chemicals I've purchased for my pool.:)

Thanks so much Waterbear for the reply. I think I will switch over to bleach soon, when I drain it. Do I keep the CYA at the same levels I keep the pool? Does this help keep the chlorine levels stable even in the high heat?

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Originally Posted by carolynn

Thanks so much Waterbear for the reply. I think I will switch over to bleach soon, when I drain it. Do I keep the CYA at the same levels I keep the pool? Does this help keep the chlorine levels stable even in the high heat?

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If the spa is outside and exposed to the sun you will need CYA just like in the pool. I don't believe it will help with the heat so you need to run your cl levels about 2 ppm higher than in your pool from my understanding. I am currently running my pool at 3 ppm and my spa at 5 ppm. Do you keep the spa heated all the time or only when you are using it? Ditto for keeping it covered...is it exposed to the sun all the time or only when it is in use? This might make a difference. Every pool and spa is different and you will need to see what works for you. It's really not hard. Just stay on top of your testing (keeping a log of your test results is a good thing to do at first) and in no time you will know just how much and how often you need to add your sanitizer and ajust pH, etc.!

Like I said, if you are going to be draining and refilling the spa every couple of months you might want to consider using di-chlor granules in the spa. Di-chlor is a fast dissovoling stabilized chorine and then you wouldn't have to worry about cya levels getting too high as long as you drain it regularly. You could shock with either di-chlor or bleach.. just keep tabs on your pH...spas tend to drift downward becuase of all the sweat and body oils, from what I understand, and di-chlor is also mildly acidic so keep your borax handy!

Enjoy your spa and pool!