The 4th Key to good Spa & Hot tub water care is Water Testing.
In other words, YES, you do have to regularly & periodically test the water. Never judge the quality & condition of the water by just its looks or odor, although those are both excellent ways to help judge it.
Let's face it, water testing is simple. It doesn't & shouldn't take more than 2 minutes. And in that 2 minutes, you'll learn a lot about how well your spa is doing.
Here's the video:
Spa Water Chemistry is the key that most spa & hot tub owners think is the most important.
But remember that Water Chemistry is just ONE of the SIX keys to good spa care.
All of the keys work synergistically (together) to give you the best hot water experience. You can't simply rely on your spa chemicals to maintain good (or great) hot tub water. You need to be aware of Circulation, Filtration, Cleaning, Water Testing & a periodic Purge, Drain & Refill.
When it comes to spa water chemistry, you have quite a selection of choices of products. There's chlorine, bromine, biguanides, Pristine Blue, ionizers, ozone & more. You've got to figure out what's best for you & your family.
Hopefully I can help make this a bit simpler.
The 3rd Keys to Spa Care is Cleaning.
Whatever you own, you have to clean. It's just a fact of life.
Whether it's your room, your desk, the bathroom, the gutters, all of these things or areas have to be cleaned & maintained. And usually, we don't really enjoy the task...
And so it is with our spas & hot tubs.
But cleaning your spa or hot tub doesn't have to be a real chore. A few minutes each week & it's pretty simple to keep up with. Definitely easier than the gutters on your house!
The 2nd Key to Good Spa Care is Filtration.
If you want to "reuse" water over & over again for a period of months, you've got to Filter the water. You've got to filter out the stuff you don't want to soak in. I don't mean to be graphic, but when you have more than one person using a spa or hot tub, you're going to have "stuff" getting into the water. And a lot of that stuff has to be removed through filtration.
So what am I talking about that needs to be filtered? Well, there's dirt & dust that either natural blow in or that you track in on your feet. Then there's body hair, dead skin cells, body oils - need I go on?
The first Key to good Spa & Hot tub care is Circulation.
Let's face it, if the water isn't circulating, you can't call it a whirlpool!
Good circulation is key because it directly affects Filtration, Cleaning & Water chemistry.
As you can see in the drawing, water circulates throughout the spa, through the filter & heater and back into the spa. Sometimes, air is injected through the jets or through separate air injectors.
Sometimes the final key is the most important key. In the case of Spa & Hot tub care, the final step is also part of the first step.
And getting your spa or hot tub off on the right foot is definitely the most important for you to have an excellent hot water experience. That's what we're looking for. Not just a good experience, but an excellent one.
Almost all spa & hot tub water care problems and issues can be dealt with when you properly Purge, Drain & Refill it. Whether it's a cloudy or foamy water problem or a scaling problem or "sticky" jets or even skin rashes & breathing problems, this single step can successfully deal with these issues.
Continue reading "6 Keys to Spa Care: Purge, Drain, Refill" »
Taking care of your Spa or Hot tub shouldn't be a real chore, but it's not that you just kind of "wing it" either.
Let's face it, you've put a lot of hard-earned money into your spa or hot tub; it's an investment in your family's health, recreation & relaxation. Like any household purchase, you need to care for it well. That doesn't mean that you use the most expensive products, but it does mean that you use cost effective (that doesn't mean cheapest), tried & true products that do what they say they'll do.
Spa & Hot tub care is all about doing the right things at the right times with the right products. Breaking what you need to do into these 6 Keys is what we're talking about. Let's get started with this video:
This may sound a bit over the top, but sometimes when it comes to treating your spa or hot tub, it's warfare!
And the most important thing in warfare is to know your enemy. Knowing & understanding what is actually causing and contributing to any hot water care problems in your spa or hot tub is crucial.
When you understand what the causes are, you can effectively treat them and have a superior soaking & relaxing experience.
Not only that, but you'll end up saving significant time & money on water balance, shock, sanitizers, draining & refilling. Let's look at the video.
Have you ever wondered what that white floaty stuff is?
You know, it kind of looks like little bits of tissue or toilet paper floating around in your spa or hot tub. Sometimes there's not a lot, just a couple of pieces.
When you touch it or hold it in your fingers, it's kind of sticky or at least "viscous". It's just icky.
What you're seeing & feeling or touching is a simple, non-pathogenic, naturally occuring problem called White Water Mold. Sometimes, it can be pink in color; then it's called Pink Slime. The problems are similar, but slightly different. But keep in mind that both are usually found together and both are usually the "visual" form of a much deeper problem. Take a look at the brief video below that shows what this stuff looks like. Some details follow.
Now you can watch and learn a lot about Spa & hot tub water care.
Video is a way of seeing a problem first hand, then viewing a way to deal with that problem. As for me, I'm a visual learner. I don't like reading manuals, but I do like watching how something is done then repeating it. I can watch the steps. I can see the products used.
Video provides the best use of auditory & visual learning.
