The whirlpool is 10 years old and is used exclusively by my husband. Until February the whirlpool was cleaned with active oxygen and chlorine. As my husband got a rash due to the chlorine on his legs, we switched to your product SpaBalancer in February 2019. In the appendix you will find a detailed list of the whirlpool's care process. It is not mentioned that the filter is cleaned weekly.
Initially my husband had no problems. For the first time my husband had problems at the beginning of May. Skin rash. After our return from the holidays at the end of June, there were violent reactions with skin rash on the upper body and shortness of breath. In addition, the water had a musty smell. For this reason the water was changed on 22 July and the system was thoroughly cleaned. Despite this measure my husband had again violent reaction with rash and strong shortness of breath.
Answer:
You wrote, "Until February, the Jacuzzi was cleaned with active oxygen and chlorine."
Active oxygen is a very weak oxidizing agent. Therefore it has a very low distribution in whirlpools. Chlorine is a strong oxidizing agent. However, it is not strong enough to oxidize all dirt. It forms chloramines.
It is often recommended to combine these two oxidation methods. What happens then? If chlorine is still present in the water and active oxygen is added, a very strong reaction occurs during which many oxidizing substances are released in a short time. This helps to cultivate chloramines. In this respect one can carry out a shock oxidation with active oxygen. But there are two disadvantages. During the chemical reaction hydrochloric acid is released. The vapours are very harmful for the lungs. Please do not inhale under any circumstances. Both substances, active oxygen and chlorine neutralize each other which leads to a disinfection gap. If then (what is actually always the case) biofilms sit in the pipelines from which bacteria become free, then the bacteria multiply all the faster after the treatment with active oxygen and chlorine. This in turn leads to more biofilm.
You wrote: "Since my husband got a rash due to chlorine on his legs, we switched to your product SpaBalancer in February 2019".
Chlorine and chloramines destroy skin cells. If you have biofilms in the pipes, you have to add a lot of chlorine to the water. When chlorine tries to oxidize the biofilm, it is used up and a lot of chloramine is produced quickly. Chloramines are also harmful to skin.
Then write that your husband initially (I assume after using SpaBalancer) had no problems. Until May. That's two months. Then there were violent reactions with skin rash on the upper body and shortness of breath.
In addition, the water had a musty smell.
This is a typical process that can occur when you switch a biofilm whirlpool to SpaBalancer.
What happens during the changeover? SpaBalancer is added to the water. SpaBalancer encapsulates all dirt. As a result, the bacteria no longer have any food and stop their cell division. The encapsulated dirt particles remain in the filters and are mechanically removed by the filter cleaning process. But what happens if the dirt is deposited as a biofilm in the pipes? Then SpaBalancer is deposited on the biofilm and encapsulates it from the water. This is the reason why (in problem whirlpools with biofilm) the water is very often clear, clean and ok after using SpaBalancer.
Since SpaBalancer is a two-component system, the Ultrashock is also used as a second component. Ultrashock forms a water-soluble oxidizing gas in water. This gas can penetrate the encapsulation layer of the SpaBalancer. It also penetrates the biofilm. In the biofilm it starts to kill the bacteria. Since the killed bacteria can no longer repair the biofilm, it slowly dissolves and releases its contents.
A biofilm is a substance made of polysaccharides formed by bacteria. A biofilm can rather be imagined as an independently acting organism. In the biofilm bacteria change their DNA and can act much more specialized. The biofilm is able to filter dirt out of the water. These can be skin flakes, fats/oils and cosmetics. It also absorbs the chloramines that have formed through oxidation with the chlorine. They are stored and can be used by bacteria as food.
When this biofilm breaks apart and is detached, the absorbed substances come back.
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