Hot Tubs and Spas: A year-round vacation that you can enjoy at home with family and friends.

Making sure your hot tub water is clean and maintained is a major part of owning a hot tub. No one wants to hang out in a hot tub with dirty water. Are you worried this will be an extremely challenging feat? Don’t fear. We are here to help you keep your hot tub in tiptop shape and make sure it lasts for many years to come. Spring cleaning is right around the corner so now is the perfect time to get your hot tub water on that list of cleaning to dos.

You should start by testing your spa water by using hot tub chemical test strips or bringing a sample to a dealer. If you are using Chlorine as a primary sanitizer, you need to use a test strip that is suited for chlorine while if you are using bromine, you need to use a Bromine test strip. Chemical test strips measure the pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness and chlorine level of spa water.

The first step after testing the water is to correct a hardness problem if one exists. The calcium hardness should be between 250 ppm and 400 ppm. If the water is too soft, it will foam and cause corrosion of your spa equipment. If the water is too hard, it will cause mineral build up on the heater element. The typical problem is the water is too soft and requires the addition of a calcium booster to raise the hardness of the water. You can use a metal sequestering agent to reduce the mineral content of the water if it is too hard.

Next, you can adjust the pH and alkalinity, which are related and use the same chemicals to adjust the levels. Make the first adjustment using the alkalinity reading. If the alkalinity is too high, use a pH down product to lower the level and if it is already too low, use a pH up product to raise the level. Add the chemical in low doses, as it might take a long time to change the alkalinity. It is important to not overdose when doing this as it will take a lot of the opposite chemical to remedy the issue. When the alkalinity is in range, it is time to correct the pH readings by using Spa Up to raise the pH or Spa Down to lower it. You want the pH to be between 7.0 and 7.8.

Now you can add the sanitizer. If the water is cloudy or smells, you can shock the water by bringing the level to around 10 ppm, but DO NOT use the spa when the chlorine level is this high. Shocking the water will ensure all bacteria and organic compounds are destroyed. You can leave on the pumps and uncover the spa to help dissipate the excess levels or chlorine back to the normal levels of between 3 ppm and 5 ppm. Once it is within these normal ranges, it is safe to use the spa again.

You also need to make sure the water is clean on an ongoing basis by shock treating the water and maintaining the sanitizer level. The warm water of hot tubs would provide an ideal breeding ground for potentially harmful microorganisms if you do not initiate and maintain an effective sanitizer system to control them.

In order to keep your water fresh, you should add a capful of chlorine after you use the hot tub and cycle the pumps on before your cover it. This way, the chlorine will work on killing any bacteria that might have remained after your spa session.

Spas And Stuff has other chemicals such as de-foamers and clarifiers that will help you keep your spa water clear and clean. We have a Hot Tub – Spa Chemical Starter Kit that contains all the chemicals that are necessary to maintain high quality spa water, as well as an instructional DVD to help you better understand spa chemicals and how to use them. Check out our Spa Water Chemistry FAQ for help understanding any concerns you may have on keeping your hot tub clean and ready to use.