Keeping Your Hot Tub Water Clean

We often get calls from our customers complaining about their spa water being cloudy or even worse brown! Most people understand that they need to add a sanitiser; usually chlorine or bromine, but there are a number of other general maintenance jobs that you need to do to your spa on a regular basis.

Check your water parameters! It is vital that you maintain the correct pH and TA (Total Alkalinity) levels to ensure your sanitiser works correctly and you are protecting your pipework and pumps from damage due to incorrect water balance. Many people overlook the TA but if that is too low you will battle to keep a constant pH.

 

Clean Your Filters! They are the heart of your hot tub. They collect all the body oils, dead skin, hair, leaves and other debris. Once your filter gets dirty it will stop cleaning the water. Remove your filters and blast them with your hose pipe every single week. A product such as Gold Horizons Rapid Filter Clean will help break the deposits on your filter down. It is a good idea to have a second set so you can thoroughly clean and dry one set and keep your tub running with the other.

 

Shock Your Spa! Your chlorine will kill bacteria but it will not remove bather waste. Once used your chlorine leaves behind chloramines and it is this that causes that strong chemical smell people associate with public swimming baths. Depending on your spa usage use non-chlorine shock every 3 to 4 weeks. If you have a party in your tub shock it straight after. Add the required amount; around 4 of the measuring cup provided, add to spa and set all the jets running. Leave the lid open for 60 minutes straight after. We use Gold Horizons Spa Revive on all our showroom and personal hot tubs. It containers clarifiers and helps keep our water clean and fresh.

 

Anti Foam Spray. You will always get bubbles in your water but once you turn the jets off they should dissipate very quickly. If they do not then you have too much detergent in your water. Using an anti-foam spray targets the bubbles directly. When using a liquid you risk overdosing the water. The product is silicon based and will form a barrier over your filter if you add too much so you lose filter performance and the water goes cloudy again. A little goes a long way!

 

Prevention Is Better Than A Cure! A very true statement. If you have to wash your swimwear than try and do an extra rinse cycle to remove as much detergent as possible. After that only rinse them in clean water or even better just leave them to dry and keep to the same costume. A quick shower before getting in a tub will help to remove deodorant, soap and shampoo still on your hair and body. Make up and fake tan are an absolute no; I do not care if the label says it is waterproof. These products will completely ruin your water to the point you may not get it back again and have to do a water change. If politeness means you cannot stop someone from using your spa when you know they have fake tan on then as soon as they are finished hit the spa with a dose of Gold Horizons Revive.