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Guide to Chemicals

Guide to Chemicals
Water Management


 
At Submerge we advocate for the use of chlorine because it’s highly effective and your ice bath requires so very little of it to stay perfectly clean.
(If you object to the use of chlorine we welcome you to manage your ice bath in your own way however we do a whole breakdown on water maintenance options on our blog that we encourage you to read first.)
Some brands advocate for using whole systems of non-chlorinated spa chemicals (Sirona) but they are multi product, require specialized test strips, you need non trivial amounts, and they are quite expensive. Imagine $50-$75 every 3-4 months.
→ Alternatively you can purchase granulated chlorine just once for $20-$40 and it’s enough for years of operation.
 
👉
FROM THE FOUNDER
I spent $30 on a 3 lbs tub of chlorine and use 25g/month or 300g of chlorine per year, this 1 purchase will last me 4.5 years of continuous operation, costing only $6.60 per year, CHEAP!

Supplies
What You’ll Need


You will need the following 3 products to manage the water quality of your tub effectively:
  • Granulated Chlorine (Chlorinating Granules / Chlorinating Concentrate)
    • Any chlorine product that is 99% Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione.
  • pH Up (Baking Soda or Soda Ash)
    • Sodium Bicarbonate or Baking Soda is the most natural and gentle pH increasing product. (Most spa pH Up products are just baking soda in fancy packaging.)
    • Sodium Carbonate or Soda Ash is stronger than baking soda. Either will do in a pinch.
  • Spa test strips that measure pH and chlorine.
    • Your classic 1 use spa or pool test strips.
 
City water from your tap is generally pH balanced, and your body and chlorine will only work to lower pH in your ice bath.
You do not require pH Down unless you add too much pH Up.
Even if you add too much pH Up the pH will slowly balance as you use it over a few days without any negative impact on your ice bathing experience.
If you want to buy a natural pH Down anyway you can buy citric acid and dissolve it in water the same as you dissolve and add pH Up.
 
Your ice bath has just 65-80 gallons of water in it when full the equivalent to 2 normal bath tubs of water, just 1-2 tsp of chlorine is all you need to keep your ice bath properly sanitized for 1-2 weeks.
 
We link to where you can purchase these products on Amazon from our Accessories page.

What NOT to add to your Ice Bath

Do not add salt or other additives to your ice bath, salt is corrosive and can damage your chiller. Theres no sanitary or hygienic benefits to your tub water from the use of salt nor any scientific health benefits to exposing yourself to salt water for 5 minutes or less each day.