The term biguanide refers to a sanitizer that uses a complex polymer as its base rather than traditional chlorine or bromine molecules. Use of a biguanide sanitizer elimiates the offensive ‘chemical smell in a pool/spa, puts a stop to the bleaching of hair and swimwear, reduces eye irritation and makes it possible for those with allergic reaction to chlorine or bromine to enjoy a dip in the pool/spa.

Mixing Biguanide With Chlorine/Bromine?

A definite no-no. The chlorine or bromine will destroy the biguanide polymer and in some cases cause insightly preciptates to fall out of solution. You will NOT enjoy cleaning up a pool or spa in which biguanides have met up with oxidizers such as chlorine or bromine.

Switching Between Biguanide and Chlorine/Bromine Sanitizers?

For those who seek to switch from a biguanide system to chlorine/bromine system, or vice versa, make certain you remove ALL of the former system’s chemicals before adding the new system’s chemicals.

In the case where a person wants to switch from a chlorine/bromine system over to a biguanide system, they should perform a test for Total Chlorine/Bromine before adding any of the biguanide chemicals. Test strips work well for this application and pool/spa owners can choose from a number of multi-parameter test strips to get the job done:

• Pool Check 6-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, cyanuric acid
• Pool Check 5-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness
• Pool Check 4-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity
• Pool Check Low Chlorine 3-in-1: free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity

And for those who REALLY want to make sure no chlorine resides in thei water, try using the WaterWorks^TM Ultra Low Total Chlorine Strips. Their lowest detection block starts at 0.005ppm total chlorine — an incredibly detection level for a dip and read test strip!