Not having success with BBB in my hot tub

I tred BBB in my hot tub but I'm just not having any luck. I cannot maintain a decent CL level for more than a day. It's 120 gal stand alone hot tub. The prob is that my kids and I get the "hot tub rash" easily and sure enough, got it a week ago after only 1 month with BBB. I hate to say it, but I did Baquacil for three years and never had a problem. The is just no room for error with BBB with hot water and in a tub that size I guess. You miss one day and you're screwed. I could go a week neglecting chemicals with Baquacil and not have any problems. Unfortuantely, with Baquacil the water is almost constantly clouded.

Yeah, I'm not a hot tub person but I'm pretty sure I've read Chlorine is not a really good sanitizer for them......I think because of the higher temps.

Again, I'm just guessing but I think I remember Bromine being the most commonly used disinfectant.

I'm sorry you aren't having success with BBB in your hot tub. Is your hot tub outside and exposed to sunlight? If so, for how long and do you cover your hot tub when not in use? Can you post a set of typical numbers of spa chemistry parameters (pH, TA, CYA, FC, CC if any, I doubt you have or need much CH)?

Perhaps we can figure out why you were losing so much chlorine. Also, with regard to hot tub itch, this is caused by a particularly difficult-to-kill bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) so particularly high disinfecting chlorine levels are required and that means not only keeping FC up, but not having CYA too high (if an outdoor spa frequently exposed to sunlight). On the other hand, not using any CYA will lead to a rapid loss of chlorine in sunlight and will also increase its rate of loss through outgassing.

It is true that the chlorine will have a tendency to outgas from the spa more readily due to the higher temperature and the aeration. It turns out that the outgassing is theoretically also very much a function of the amount of chloride ion (salt) that is in the water. If you had a TA of 100 and CH of 30 resulting in a salt level of around 50 (ppm NaCl), then with no CYA this would theoretically outgas chlorine at a rate of around one-twelfth of your FC per day. However, if you had 200 ppm of salt in the water (built up from the chemicals you add over time, including chlorine) then you would outgas chlorine at one-third of your FC per day. If your CH was high, then your salt could be high because CH is increased via Calcium Chloride (and the chloride increases the rate of chlorine outgassing).

It may be that a solution to your situation would be to use a small amount of CYA (10 ppm or less if you can approximately measure that -- most measurement kits only go down to 30 and some down to 20) to cut down the chlorine outgas rate, but not too much since you want high disinfecting chlorine levels. Regularly refreshing the water so that it keeps the salt level down would also help. If you use CYA, then you can safely use quite high levels of chlorine up to 10 ppm and the combination of high FC and a little CYA should give you a decent reserve so you don't "run out" of chlorine. I admit that keeping the "low, but not too low nor too high" CYA level is tricky.

Perhaps others who use BBB to maintain their hot tubs (hopefully successfully) can give you their tips as well. I don't have a hot tub so am speaking from theoretical science, not experience. And I agree with Dave that most people with hot tubs use a Bromine or Bromine/Chlorine combination precisely to combat this "rapid loss of chlorine" problem as well as to reduce the "chlorine smell" (probably from outgassing).

Richard

Richard,

I'll test it fully tonight and post the results. I have been dumping powdered stabilized shock into the hot tub regularly because it seemed to get the CL up quicker and because I was trying to get at least a little CYA into the tub. Bleach doesn't seem to get the levels up as high as bleachcalc would suggest that it should. I also salted the water up to 2000PPM (I think!) I will check that as well.

My tub is outdoors, but covered 24/7 except when we are in it.

My disdain is that there appears to be sooo little margin for error. It seems to go from 5+PPM CL to nothing in a day! I used to get the rash regularly with Bromine as well. I am just suprised that Baquacil seemed to be so much more effective at killing off Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

First you started with no CYA and using bleach...
With no CYA (and with 2000 ppm salt), you would outgas virtually all of your FC in about 10 hours! Even worse, without CYA you can lose half of your FC in just 30 minutes due to sunlight! So even though you covered your tub when not in use, even short-term use during the day would really eat up the FC very, very quickly if there was no CYA.

Then you used powdered stabilized shock...
Powdered stabilized shock was probably Di-Chlor (since that doesn't change pH much and it dissolves quickly). The small size of your hot tub means that adding only 1/4 ounce of Di-Chlor would increase your Free Chlorine (FC) by 8.6 ppm while also increasing your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 7.9 ppm. So basically when using Di-Chlor, you add about as much CYA as you do FC, but the FC goes away while the CYA does not!

So it's no wonder that the chlorine wasn't effective after a few doses of Di-Chlor. Your CYA levels probably are through the roof -- if you can test that and let us know, that would be very interesting. As for BleachCalc, my guess is that your hot tub is larger than 120 gallons -- are you sure of that number as this is small and would be for a 2-person hot tub (5-6 person tub is around 375-400 gallons)?

A high CYA level would explain why adding chlorine wasn't effective at killing hot tub itch. That still leaves the issue of the chlorine getting used up so quickly even after you started using Di-Chlor. The high salt level would certainly contribute to chlorine getting outgassed, but the high CYA would cut that down significantly and would also protect the chlorine from sunlight. So that leaves the other source of chlorine consumption, namely killing bugs and oxidizing organics. I'll bet that your CC levels are high and that the chlorine is struggling to keep up with everything (such as sweat) introduced into the relatively small volume of water.

When you were using Baquacil...
I don't think it's so much that Baquacil was better at killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa than chlorine, but that when the chlorine was used up (and not there) or when it was in the presence of a lot of CYA, then it was not effective. So the key is to get the chlorine level up and to stay up and to not have too much CYA present. Also, when you were using Baquacil, did you add both the biquinide (PHMB) and hydrogen peroxide? The former kills bacteria and algae, but only the latter oxidizes organics and most of the junk in spa water is organics (sweat).

My guess at this point is the following. When you used Baquacil, you were adding biguinide (PHMB) but not hydrogen peroxide. So while you were killing bacteria (including hot tub itch) and preventing algae, you weren't oxidizing organics (e.g. sweat) so when these built up that caused the water to get cloudy. When you switched to using chlorine, most of it is getting used up oxidizing the organics and perhaps you never got to a point where you oxidized all of them so just saw perpetual chlorine demand (and with no CYA initially and high salt levels you were also using up chlorine through outgassing as well as breakdown from sunlight). After you added Di-Chlor, the CYA made the chlorine ineffective and you got hot tub itch.

Richard

Why sweat it with BBB and a tub to save, literally, pennies. Buy some bromine and a floater and be done with it. $20 for bromine lasts me six months. Borax if you need to bump up the ph and dry acid ($3 or $4 for a bottle that's lasted well over six months) to bring it down. Hut tub maintenance is very, very cheap, compared to a pool, and I really don't see where any big savings can be had. MHO

Hmm, lots of questions to answer...

First Tomcat:
I'm not at all concerned about saving money (or I wouldn't consider going back to baquacil!!) I was just trying to get a clearer (and cleaner feel) to my hot tub than what I was getting with baquacil and really love the effect of BBB in my pool. I used to use bromine as well many moons ago with my older hot tub and also experienced the hot tub itch crud on occassion so thought that I'd try chlorine instead. Honestly it has been so miraculous on the pool I figured that with a tad of maintenance it would be as good in the tub.

Richard:
Yes it's 120 gal according to the manufacturer. It's a three seat, really two seat and a lounge. Pretty small, but that's all I wanted and needed.

Interesting thought on the di chlor and CYA being too high. I will definitely test tonight. I was only adding a few teaspoonfuls at a pop and thought that the CYA would not go very high at all from such a small amount but perhaps it's through the roof. Never checked because I assumed it'd be real low.

In regards to what I was adding with the Baquacil, I'd have to say....I don't know! I just bought the stuff they said to in the book and stuck it in when the test strips recommended it. They were called: A. Sanitizer. B. Shock (recently they changed the name to oxidizer.) C. Waterline control. Also obviously PH & alk up and down, and their "water clarifier" that didn't work worth a darn....

Now for a question on Pseudomonas aeruginosa...Knowing that one has it in one's tub, how high would the CL need to be and for how long would it need to be there to kill it off?

In regards to losing CL to sunlight. I only go in at night so UV shouldn't be an issue.

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Originally Posted by keithw

In regards to what I was adding with the Baquacil, I'd have to say....I don't know! I just bought the stuff they said to in the book and stuck it in when the test strips recommended it. They were called: A. Sanitizer. B. Shock (recently they changed the name to oxidizer.) C. Waterline control. Also obviously PH & alk up and down, and their "water clarifier" that didn't work worth a darn....

Now for a question on Pseudomonas aeruginosa...Knowing that one has it in one's tub, how high would the CL need to be and for how long would it need to be there to kill it off?

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The "A. Sanitizer" was probably Biguinide (PHMB) while the "B. Shock or Oxidizer" was probably Hydrogen Peroxide. So the shock should have oxidized organics and you should not have had cloudy water, but then again who knows what happened...

As for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it looks like the CT (chlorine concentration times time in minutes) values for this bug are on the order of 50-70 which would mean it would take about 20 minutes to kill 99.99% of the bugs at a 3.0 disinfecting chlorine level, but I do know that the commercial spas study measured pseudomonas and found that the 650 mV ORP level which roughly corresponds to the 0.011 ppm disinfecting chlorine level was sufficient to prevent these organisms from growing. However, once they are started, they can form biofilms and require much more chlorine to kill which is what the 50-70 CT value represents. Bottom line is that Ben's best guess chart is probably sufficient for preventing it (his minimums are around 0.02-0.03 disinfecting chlorine), but you need to shock regularly to get rid of it once it's there. Since it is so hard to control sanitation levels in the small volume of water, setting an initial target of around 5 ppm chlorine would be good and try never to drop below 3 ppm. You mostly need that amount of chlorine simply to oxidize the organics, that is, to never run out. If you use any CYA at all it should be a very small amount (< 10 ppm) so that you can easily shock to get to high chlorine levels when needed.

And I agree with previous posters that bromine can be easier to use in this sort of situation, but I also understand your desire to get that wonderful BBB feel. My hunch is that if you shock your spa and keep it at shock levels until the chlorine doesn't drop anymore, then you'll have a clean-water starting point. Then any chlorine usage would be related to your usage of the water and you'll just have to drop in an amount of chlorine after each use. Some websites even recommend a shock level after each use, but that's probably for heavier usage (i.e. 6 people in a 4-5 seater).

Richard

Richard,

Well just got home and checked my levels and you are correct on the CYA. Tested with Taylor K-2006 so should be pretty accurate.

FC 10.6
CC 1.2
CYA 100
ALK 130
PH 7.5

Since the CYA is so out of whack, I guess I will just drain and start over and give it one last shot.

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My hunch is that if you shock your spa and keep it at shock levels until the chlorine doesn't drop anymore, then you'll have a clean-water starting point.

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My problem has been that I could never reach a point where the CL wouldn't drop any more. Gonna give it one more shot though.

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Originally Posted by keithw

Gonna give it one more shot though.

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When you do the drain and refill, there will still be residual CYA in the pipes and stuck to the walls that you can't get rid of so just be aware that there will still be a small amount (probably < 5 ppm, perhaps only 1 ppm though you can try testing for it to see). I suggest you not add salt to see if that makes any difference. Notice that you have a large FC now, but also have CC which makes me think that indeed there is something consuming a lot of chlorine in your tub.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the chlorine will hold this time, at least after some initial use. Keep us posted.

Richard

Unfortunately I don't really have a moment right now to go into all this...
lets just say,
(1) forget the bleach... too much trouble for what it's worth & it will most likely end up costing the same or more than bromine anyway ( due to dissapation factors)
go with Bromine
(2) I agree with Chemgeek... forget the salt... you don't need it.
- you'll get the same "soft" feel from spa products usually called "soft" ( with way less tds & chemical solvents)... it usually only takes one small squirt every once in a while
(3) don't add CYA
(4) use puck floaters ( they will most likely have a bit of stabalizer anyway)
- make sure that the floater is Never empty... this will ensure that your level doesn't drop to zero... around 6ppm sanitizer is a good number to shoot for.
(you can still use sodium carbonate or bi-carbonate products & you will still need to add calcium...)

I would suggest checking your hot tub manual for recommendations of levels...
then check your old baqu system to see what "job" each chemical was doing ( some of your "start-up" chemicals may not be replaced with grocery items, but we may be able to suggest other chemicals instead of Baqu-crap system);
then you can then figure out what chemicals can be replaced by grocery store items ( or BBB... Bromine, Baking soda, Borax)...

as long as your sanitizer ( bromine or chlorine) is high enough to do it's job ( not interupted by CYA) then the "itch" or bacteria causing it, should Not re-occur....

if you have a product called " tub clean" or something similar to it, run it through before draining the tub... be sure to either replace your filter or use a filter cleaning chemical ( like filter pure, or filter cure) soaking it over-night
or about 24 hours would be ideal

Best of Luck :)

Yep I am going to nix the BBB on the tub. Tested tonight and the CL was 0. I was at 10.6 yesterday at the same time. The tub hasn't been used in three days so it cannot be anything that we are putting in that's killing the CL. It just disappears so fast in such a small tub, I guess. Don't see any choice but to drain tomorrow and re-baquacize it.

Just an update. Decided to give CL one last shot. As Richard and I discussed, my CYA was high so I did a drain and refill and have the CYA at 30PPM now. Also gave up on the salt since Richard suggest that it oxidize the CL faster. Things appear to be much more stable after the refill. I can hold a CL greater than 6PPM for a day day or two now so maintaining the tub with CL is now tolerable.

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Originally Posted by keithw

Just an update. Decided to give CL one last shot. As Richard and I discussed, my CYA was high so I did a drain and refill and have the CYA at 30PPM now. Also gave up on the salt since Richard suggest that it oxidize the CL faster. Things appear to be much more stable after the refill. I can hold a CL greater than 6PPM for a day day or two now so maintaining the tub with CL is now tolerable.

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Thanks for the update. The lower CYA level will keep the sanitation level of chlorine up while the elimination of extra salt (chloride ion) will cut down the outgassing of chlorine gas (it's not that it oxidizes faster, but that it gets converted back to chlorine gas -- the opposite of dissolving chlorine gas in the water).

As others have mentioned, using Bromine is quite typical in a spa so if you get frustrated with the chlorine just switch. Keep us posted, especially if anything changes (e.g. you experience hot tub itch, or you start to lose too much chlorine, etc.).

Richard

My Softub requires the use of chlorine (not bromine) for maintaining the 5 year warranty (at least in the US, the Candanian warranty is different, I believe). The sanitizer they sell is Dichlor and they recommend replacing the water every 2 to 3 months because it becomes "unstable". Yeah, because the CYA levels go sky high!!

My 300gal Softub tested at over 100ppm CYA using the sight test after using DiChlor for about a month (one TBSP about 3 times a week). It was over 300 on the strips after 3 months of using DiChlor. Yikes!

Anyway, I too have decided to try BBB. I have found that about 1 to 1 1/2 oz of regular bleach will get the tub to 3 to 4 ppm and keep it above 2 for a day or so. The only problem I have found is that the PH seems to jump around more, but since I didn't start with "fresh" water (I had been using DiChlor for several weeks before testing then switching), I'm not going to worry until next fill. Then I will use Borax to hopefully buffer the PH better.

Anyway, so far the results have been good. Water is clear, no itch, no noticeable film on the vinyl. As Richard says, biofilms do get started in hot tubs and the only way to clear them is a pretty good shocking. I want to try this with a complete refresh of the water, but as of right now, my DiChlor is put away and I have a nice quart bottle of bleach and a measuring cup in my tub kit.

I live in Canada and just got a 6 person SoftTub this year. The guide recommends the use of Bromine since it holds up to the hot temps better than chlorine, which is why I find it strange that SoftTub US doesnt want you using Bromine. My upkeep is super easy, just bring up the bromine reserves when you first fill it (5-6 ppm) and then use the bromine floater and adjust your PH every so often. I also have a "shock" which has a PH lock and a bunch of other stuff I put in once every week. I also squirt in a little clarifyer which is suppose to help with the filtering etc etc. not sure if it actually works. I too was told to dump the water every 2-3 months which I am about to do at the end of this month so I can do it again in Dec to try and bridge over till spring (I dont want to change 300 gals of water in the dead of a canadian winter)

But so far so good, I usually keep the cover on unless we are using it, so there is no worry about the sun breaking down the bromine levels quickly.

I heard somewhere that you were suppose to use unstabilized chlorine in a hot tub, not sure why or what that means.

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Originally Posted by CanuckPool

I heard somewhere that you were suppose to use unstabilized chlorine in a hot tub, not sure why or what that means.

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The reason you heard that it is best to use unstabliized chlorine in a hot tub is because CYA (which is introduced with stabilized chlorine) reduces chlorine effectiveness. The bacteria that causes hot tub itch (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) is somewhat resistent to chlorine (and likes hot temperatures which is why it is found in hot tubs and not in pools). So not using CYA or at least keeping the CYA at lower levels allows for greater disinfection and prevention of hot tub itch.

Of course, if you don't use CYA, then you will lose chlorine very quickly if the hot tub is exposed to sunlight and you will even lose the chlorine more quickly in darkness due to greater outgassing (especially if you add extra salt to your hot tub, which you shouldn't). If you keep your hot tub covered most of the time, then you reduce the loss from outgassing.

So there is a tradeoff for how much CYA to use and I am not clear on exactly where the best level should be, but suspect it is on the lower side -- not more than 30 ppm.

Richard

A P.S. to my last post above.

I have been told that many State health departments are now saying that no form of stabilized chlorine should be used in a hot tub, so that is probably where you heard this. Also, I heard that HTH has recently discontinued their Di-Chlor packaged for hot tub use and now only sells Cal-Hypo as a spa chlorinator and spa shock.

So the conservative approach would be not to use any CYA at all in the hot tub. I would say that if you find you can keep your chlorine levels stable so that you don't run out or get to low levels too quickly, then that would be OK. The very high disinfecting chlorine levels when no CYA is present will certainly kill off virtually everything including hot tub itch bacteria rather quickly, but will also fade (and degrade any rubber in) your swimsuits.

Personally, I think that the rule of using no CYA is a "black-and-white" "either/or" over-reaction to a real problem of having too much CYA. So I'm conflicted as to what to truly recommend. My gut feel (based on the information that I know) is that a small amount of CYA would be OK, but to keep it as low as possible such that it allows you to maintain chlorine levels (since running out of chlorine even with no CYA is obviously much, much worse). If your hot tub can maintain chlorine levels with an amount of CYA that barely clouds up in the CYA test and is therefore quite small (probably 10 ppm or so), then that might be a decent balance between chlorine disinfection and chlorine preservation, but I honestly don't know for sure.

Richard

That was my plan. Use the DiChlor for the fill and maybe a couple more days to get a low CYA level, then switch back to bleach.

Canuckpool, I have the same tub! It is great, we use it all winter. NY isn't as cold as the Great White North, but all the kids love going out on a cold night and freezing their hair while staying warm in the tub! We have the cold package, which includes a 1" rigid foam board with reflecting layers that you put under the tub and a soft floating water cover that goes under the hard cover. Expensive, but it really helps keep the water warm and helps it heat up faster after being used. I just wish the tub would go 1 degree warmer.

The US warranty for Softub is very specific about using chlorine and only chlorine. Their product, called Chlor (cute), is DiChlor. I don't think they have a Cal-Hypo product. I have considered using bromine and damn the warranty, but decided to try BBB since I have all of the ingredients, thanks to POOLFORUM.

Cool, yea we just got it this year, its the camel brown color (colour for us Canadians) with the blue water pattern and swirly tile top, it is actually the same liner as our pool, how coordinated! We only have the bi-fold top... should we look into getting all the winter stuff??? I guess I can find out this winter. It seems to stay pretty warm under the cover. I hear you about the heat level, after sitting in it for 5 minutes you get used to the heat and want it higher. Too bad there wasnt a 106 level! I guess since the method that it uses to heat the tub (via motor heat) it cant go above 104.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread a smidgen.

Actually, it will go higher, but there is a thermocouple controlled cutoff. You can get it to go a bit higher by turning the motor on high about 5 minutes before you get in, but once you are in, agitating the water cools it down. There used to be a post on the web about using the adjustment for the thermocouple to "fool" the tub into heating up an extra degree or two, but I haven't been able to find it (and I'm not really sure I want to try).

Without the extra heat conserving stuff, it the tub would run for quite a while when trying to recover. What we got was a kit that had the insulating foam (for under the tub), a floating "heat blanket" (like a solar cover but stiffer AND a soft cover to go over the cover. Actually, in the US (again), if you don't have the soft cover, they won't warranty the vinyl hard cover!! The whole thing was about $300 (US), but it seems to have been a good investment.

yea, sound like something you don't want to mess with, at least while it is still under warrenty. We are enjoying ours so far. I think its good enough to get heated up and relax, we really got ours to compliment our pool... so we dont have to keep the heater on the pool on too long. I think if we didnt have a pool we may have opted for a more permanent spa. I cant wait for the winter as it seems thats where most of the hot tub people use theirs.

The only other thing is the 6 person rating... I really think its a 4 man with plenty of room, but you could fit 6 in a pinch... not to mention if you do have 6 people in the amount of water that spills over the edge.

I have the 4 passenger Canadian Softub 220. I used to run it on liquid bromine and non-chlorinated shock (monopersulfate). It worked well, but for one reason or another, we decided to convert to Chlorine, and I started with cal-hypo. After a few weeks, though, the calcium precipitated out, clogging the filter and putting white chalky stuff everywhere. I then switched to bleach, and have had nothing but clear water since. I do find that I have to add bleach frequently, but it is not difficult to splash in a cup or so everytime I use it. Our spa supplier recommends lithium hypochlorite, so that is another possibility, but is much more expensive than bleach.

Re the "winter" kit: I have never heard of it in Canada. Our Softubs are made in the Sudbury area, known for cold temperatures, so I would guess that our models come with better insulation than the American ones. Softub Canada seems to have an interesting franchise - their models are often quite different than the ones build south of the border.

Maybe you're right about the Canadian models. I know for 2006 they had some updates... Ozonator/New Colours/Colour LED light and spa seat for the 6 man version. I was also told that there was no need to get any extra covers for the winter and it would still be under warranty. Underneath does have some sort of foam pad that is built into the unit, not sure if this is the option for the stateside models.

Derek, have you thought of going to a bromine floater, its great that on the days you dont use it you dont have to worry about it, just keep the floater filled.

Re the bromine floater: our local spa company does not recommend them for the Softubs. I think the outgassing from the bromine tabs through the floater cover probably does the foam tub cover no good. Anyway, I switched to bleach because we eventually decided that we preferred the smell of chlorine to that of bromine. I suppose I could always float a chlorine puck from my pool supplies if I have to be away from home any length of time.

Interesting about the bromine floater outgassing, I should look into that. The only thing I was told was not to have the air on while the cover was on and the pump running as that could cause premature wear on the cover.

On a sidenote, I have to empty my softtub soon, would it be ok to empty the 300 gallons into the pool??? The pool holds approx 14,500 gallons and is an SWG pool. The softtub is bromine, is there the potential for a chemical problem???

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Originally Posted by CanuckPool

On a sidenote, I have to empty my softtub soon, would it be ok to empty the 300 gallons into the pool??? The pool holds approx 14,500 gallons and is an SWG pool. The softtub is bromine, is there the potential for a chemical problem???

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You should not empty your softtub water into your pool because you NEVER want to add bromine to a chlorine system. The reason is that hypobromous acid (analgous to hypochloric acid) will turn into bromide (analogous to chloride) when it disinfects or oxidizes items in your pool and the chlorine (hypochloric acid) will then convert the bromide back to hypobromous acid thus reactivating it, but the chlorine gets consumed (turns into chloride ion) when this occurs. Hypobromous acid is a less effective disinfectant and oxidizer than hypochloric acid so the net effect is that you replace some of your chlorine in your pool with a less effective sanitizer and you can never get rid of this bromine (except by drain and refill).

Essentially, once a bromine pool, always a bromine pool.

Richard

Thanks Richard for not letting me turn my pool into disaster!

Hey Derek, I was checking on the softtub canada website and they sell a bromine floater. Curious that the canadian softtub is ok for bromine but the US is not.

http://www.softubcanada.com/english/...essories6.html

@ Canukpool...

I wonder if the canadian soft tubs are okay with the use of bromine tablets because we don't have CYA in it?
( & considering that CYA is banned in two states, perhaps that is why the USA has a different guideline)

or rather, all the bromine products that I have ( powdered flakes & tablet form) don't contain cya ( or salt!)... maybe it's a Canadian thing ( or maybe it's just what is local here in NS)

I would find it interesting to know why the difference between the two countries ( & does Mexico follow the USA or Canadian guidelines for soft tubs?);
Is the actual structual materials of the tubs different?

Re:
Hey Derek, I was checking on the softtub canada website and they sell a bromine floater. Curious that the canadian softtub is ok for bromine but the US is not.

I am in Canada. It may be the local dealer, not Softub Canada, who recommends using liquid bromine instead of tabs in a floater, based on problems they may have had here. In the case of my tub, the rain often seeps in around the edges (yes, I know that can be prevented by putting the vinyl cover on!), causing the foam cover to float on the water. I would think that, in that case, the floater would be pressing directly against the cover, and problems could ensue.

HI Derek, which cover do you have, is it the bi-fold cover?

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Originally Posted by CanuckPool

HI Derek, which cover do you have, is it the bi-fold cover?

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Nope. I have the smaller 4-passenger model (220) and a one piece cover. It's manageable enough, but I would expect the one-piece would be difficult to manage on the six person unit.

the trick to using bleach in your hot tub is that you have to add just little each day or right after you use it. For a large 6 person HT, it takes only slightly less than an ounce.

Yes most of the Cl will be reduced by the next day, but the water is sanitized and will be ready for use and then you start over with another dose for the next day. Once a week you can shock with a 10X dose of bleach.

It is not a matter of saving money. I much prefer the use of Cl over Br in my HT. The water is always crystal clear and does not smell or foam as with Br. And I have been having much better control of mildew on the inside of the lid also. The borax and bicarb also help with the feel of the water.

Just my opinion.