alternative hot tub chemicals

I was curious if anyone uses anything besides chlorine and bromine in their hot tubs.  I am assuming hot tubs are probably looked down upon in permaculture unless they are filled by rainwater or something. It would also be smart to heat it by solar power which I will look into since i live in Phoenix.  I purchased this before I became interested in permaculture and struggle with owning it now .  I thought about making it a raised bed garden  but still love how it makes me warm in the winter.  I would at least like to start by using something other than chlorine and bromine  , maybe salt ?? I would love your suggestions . 
Thanks everyone !
Donna :0)

We have a hot tub, I built it before I finished the house. For us the tub is a necessity not luxury. We are in the tub, the whole family, every evening. We are professional skiers, the tub is a must after coming home from the mountain.
I've never found anything other them the chems you mentioned, we use what is nessary. We do have the smallest heater [it would take many hours to heat the tub from cold to hot] the tub comes on every so often burns very little fuel and is at temp at all times[ like a tankless water heater] rather than a big furnas with lots of BTUs, less fuel that way.
If we had Natural Gas, instead of propane, at valley ranch 2 we would have one there also. We have a cool tub there that is not heated, we use it during summer diving in to cool off, we don't use AC, we do have a swamp cooler that we use if guests come in summer. There,at 2,we heat with wood to use less propane.

look up the saltwater systems everyone is using for the inflatable pools.

Hi! Have you ever looked into an ionizer? These units produce copper, silver and zinc ions, and completely eliminate the need for harsh chemicals like chlorine or bromine. With full disclosure in mind, I work for a company that sells them, but we really do believe in them! The ions add no smell, no color, no taste to the water. Our association with ionizers came about mainly because of our association with wooden hot tubs. Chlorine and bromine in a wooden hot tub can quickly cause unrepairable damage to the wood.

You can see our ionizers at http://www.almostheaven.net/aho/ionizers.htm. We've had customers who had to abandon their hot tub/spa/pool due to an allergic reaction to other chemical sanitizers. With our ionizer they're once again able to enjoy the water without adverse reaction. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions!

Thanks for posting the info about the Ionizer, I'll look into that. It should have the added advantage: keeping the water in good order if we are away for a few days.

Yes! Once you connect the ionizer to your plumbing and get your level adjusted correctly you're good to go! Once a week you still have to use a fast acting oxidizer to burn up any dead organic matter (sloughed off skin cells etc) that have been left behind in your water. If you do this on a Sunday evening when you're done with your dip, by Monday morning the chemical is already gone, along with whatever it burned up. If you're gone for a couple weeks (or even simply not using your hot tub because of your schedule), you don't even have to use the oxidizer since nothing would have accumulated in the water, and the ionizer will continue to work.

Please feel free to shoot off any other questions you might have here if you'd like and I'll respond in as timely a manner as possible. For instant answers you're welcome to give our office a call (304-645-2310), or use the live chat function located in the upper right corner of all of our web pages. We love to see people switching from chemicals to ionizers. It's really the better alternative all around.

if you don't need it for drinking water, you can use salt water.
Is being used in most freestanding pools now, and most Las Vegas pools for years.

Doesn't have to be very salty....