Hot Tub Chemistry 101

An Introduction to the Wonderful World of Hot Tub Chemistry.

You're reading this right now because you are either the proud new owner of a hot tub or you've had one for some time now and have never been instructed on how to properly maintain your hot tub's water chemistry. Now that you are here let's a few minutes to see if I can teach you something new. We will go step by step begining with oneof the most important rules:

"Not everyone's water is exactly the same. Just because something works for one person does not mean it will work for another."

What does this mean to you? It means that even though we are going to go over a lot of terms, definitions and best practices here, in the end you will need to decide on a maintenance plan that works for your hot tub. My goal is to teach you how to test your water and properly balance it. What, when, and how much? I'll give you the basic framework, but be prepaired to customize it to fit your water's needs. Let's get started.

Sanitization Methods.

"The most important part of hot tub's water and your health."

I do not think I can stress this enough. THE PROPER USE OF SANITIZERS IN YOUR HOT TUB IS THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF IDEAL HOT TUB WATER CHEMISTRY. The sanitizer you chose to use and maintain the correct balance in your hot tub is extreamly important. Why? Because sanitizer is what you introduce to the water to eliminate the bacteria and viruses that are in each and every hot tub. And I mean every hot tub. You would not want to go take a bath in sewage, would you? I didn't think so. Let's see what your choices are in sanitization systems.

CHLORINE - Chlorine is a widely used method of hot tub water sanitation. Most swimming pool owners are fairly familiar with chlorine because of its wide-spread use among pool owners. An important fact to keep in mind is that there is a difference in the formulation of chlorine for hot tubs and swimming pools. This is done because a hot tub's water is both hot instead of cold and typically under 1000 gallons of water. These factors make testing and balancing your hot tub's water a little different than that of a swimming pool. The active ingredient in the hot tub's formula is DI-CHLOR instead of the TRI-CHLOR found in swimming pool chlorine. Also, spa chlorine is almost always primarily found in dry granular form. The key to using this type of sanitizer in your spa is to make sure you are using the properly formulated product.

BROMINE - Another way to sanitize your hot tub is though the use of bromine tablets. Bromine tabs are a combination of sodium bromide that is activated by sodium di-chlor. Bromine does have some chlorine in it. Many bromine users say that there is less of a pungent odor when using bromine over strictly chlorine. Bromine tabs are added to your hot tub through a floater, some hot tubs have a compatment in the filter area, that allows the bromine to dissolve in the water gradualy.

OZONE (my personal favorite)- If your hot tub is equipped with an ozonazation system than you are using an ozone. Even if your hot tub didn't come with one, an ozone system can easily be added with a kit. An ozone sanitization systems does need some assistance. They cannot be left alone to do all of the dirty work alone no matter what you've been told. This goes for the guy who sold you your spa too. You still have to keep a trace amount of bromine or chlorine in order to maintain a healthy hot tub. What does an ozone offer you then? It allows you to use less of the other sanitizers. An ozone will also prolong the life of the water in your hot tub.

NATURE2 & OTHER MINERAL PURIFIERS - Though not a solution when used alone, mineral purifier cartridges should be used to assist your sanitizers in maintaining clear healthy water. The use of a mineral hot tub purifier cartridge enables you to use far less of the traditional sanitizers, bromine and chlorine. When using a mineral purifier, you can safely maintain a bromine or chlorine level of 0.5ppm instead of 3ppm. These cartridges slide inside of your spa's filter. The mineral purifier precisely controls water flows through itself, slowly releaseing trace amounts of natural, algaestatic and bactericidal minerals into your hot tub to aide in preventing bacteria and algae growth. Inside, a reaction activates oxygen to destroy bacteria, algae, viruses and other organic matter.

BIGUANIDE - Biguanides were first developed as a pre-surgery antimicrobial scrub. Despite their aggressive desire to kill germs, they are easy on the skin and eyes. Did you know, biguanides are used in some contact lens cleaning solutions. They also reduce the surface tension of water, bathers often say that biguanide-treated water feels softer. There are several manufacturers of biguanides for swimming pool and hot tub use.

Compared with chlorine or bromine, they are more resistant to the suns UV rays, and biguanides are more stable (which means that less is needed saving you money and water). They|Biguanides do not produce odorous chloramines (the byproduct of inactive chlorine), and they are not affected by high temperatures or changes in pH. Also, most biguanide manufacturers have developed easy-to-follow sanitizing schedules that make a biguanide swimming pools or hot tubs easier to maintain than one sanitized with bromine or chlorine.

ECO-ONE - ecoONE can act as a replacement drasticly reduceing your hot tub's chemical consumption for the vast majority of your sanitization needs, with out adding all the toxins. ecoONE reduces the amount of sanitizer needed by reducing the workload of your sanitizer. Normally, hot tub owners have to add many chemicals to balance their water, not with ecoONE. It handles the majority of the chores and leaves the sanitizer to do it's job, which is to kill bacteria fast and effectively. There is NO A GOOD excuse for anyone to have to add massive amounts of bromine or chlorine to breakdown scum, detergents, suntan oils, personal care products, foam, etc. This should all be taken care of without harmful chemicals. With ecoONE you will reduce your bromine and chlorine use by up to 90%. You will not even be able to tell that there is a sanitizer in the water. NO chemical smell, dry itchy skin, red eyes, faded clothing, etc. NONE!

Testing Your Hot Tub's Water

Don't guess whether or not your hot tub needs chemicals add. You'll just be wasting your time and money. Hot tub chemical manufacturers have made it simple to test your water. The days of using the OTO/PHENOL reactant test kits are a thing of the past. All you do is dip the test strip in the water and match it to the color chart. Simple.

Test strips should measure Free Available Sanitizer, pH level and Alkalinity. Some strips test more items, but these are the basics. Just follow the instructions on the test strips container and adjust your sanitizer accordingly. We will discuss pH and alkalinity in a couple of minutes.

When to Drain the Water

"Do you really want to soak in a hot tub that hasn't had it's water changed in two years?"

I didn't think so. I also know that the majoirty of hot tub owners do not truely think about it often enough and when they do they wonder what refilling it is going to cost them, water wise. Trust me, it's going to be less than than a trip to the doctor's office when you start felling ill. Your hot tub water needs to be drained, cleaned and refiled every 3-4 months, roughly. Notice, I said "NEEDS TO BE" not should be. Why is that? Because, no matter how effective the chemicals are at doing their job, there comes a time when there's just too much junk in the water. I could bore you to death with the details of high total dissolved solids (TDS) counts and their effect on the effectiveness of diffrent hot tub water care chemicals, but just take my word for it. When 3-4 months roll around, your TDS levels will be high enough that your water needs to be changed. Try to plan an hour to drain your hot tub, clean the shell and change the water. You'll save both time and money in the end.

Hot Tub Shock

"Oxidation is a wonderful thing when you are attempting to kill bacteria."

Shock agents are oxidizers. Oxidizers break down the lotions, oils and other compounds that end up in the water that sanitizers alone can not remove. Bacteria's got to eat. And they love body oils, dead skin and other contaminates. Oxidizing eliminates the food sources for the bacterias. You help destroy them the old-fashioned way. You starve them! You should be shocking your hot tub about once a week with a non-chlorine shock. It's also a good idea to shock it after any heavy bather loads.

Alkalinity and pH

Water pH is a measurement of the concentration of hydrogen ions in your hot tub's water. Without getting technical, you basically want to keep the water pH between 7.2 and 7.8. The ph of the human eye is 7.4. Keeping your pH closer to this level will help to prevent eye irritation. Low pH will cause your hot tub water to become too acidic which will start to corrode and eat away at your hot tub equipment. Your body will not like the effects of low pH either. Too high and your water becomes too basic or alkaline. This causes stains, deposits and mineral scaling on your hot tub.

After checking the hot tub's water with your test kit and checking the pH level, adjust the pH up or down if needed with Spa Up or Spa Down. After you get the pH adjusted to where you want it for at least a couple of weeks, you can look into getting a pH locking products like Leisure Time pH Balance Plus.

The dance...

Alkalinity is the ability of your hot tub's water to buffer pH levels. I know, you are probably asking yourself, "why does it matters if I am able to adjust the pH levels." But it does and here is why. Both your alkalinity and pH are dancing with each other. The trick is to get them to slow dance as one. Here is the key to make this happen. The ability of the pH to stabilize and not jump around endlessly depends on the alkalinity being stabilized. However, alkalinity can't stabilize until the pH has stabilized for a period of time. I know, it sounds like a pain in the rear but it really is not. Here is what you have to do. Unless your alkalinity is extreamly low, forget about it for a while. Check and balance your hot tub's pH every other day for a couple of weeks. By checking and adjusting the pH this often, you do not allow for it to bounce around. Once it has been maintained this way for about two weeks, your alkalinity will stabilize which will then permit the pH some parameters. It sounds difficult, but it will not be if you are disciplined in those first two weeks.

Heavy Metal

To start with, the blame needs to be directed towards your water source. Guess what? Chances are they do not care that you don't want really hard water in your hot tub. They have other problems to worry about. Don't waste your time going after the source. We just have to deal with the hard water that we are supplied. Luckily for us hot tub owners, the hot tub chemical industry has found a need and offered their expertice and came up with products like Leisure Time Metal Gon.

There is an alternitive solution if you have really hard water. Why not remove all the metals as you fill your hot tub? If this is more to your liking, check out the pre-water filters. They attach to the end of your hose and then remove the metals as you fill your spa. You'll be amazed by what this little filter can filter out.

Calcium Hardness

Like other elements, poor calcium levels can screw up your hot tub's equipment. After testing, if your hot tub's calcium is too low use a calcium booster. If the calcium level is too high, it's level can be lowered with regular use of Leisure Time Defender.

Clarifiers, Flocks and Defense Products

You want that sparkling blue water right? Well there are chemicals for that as well. They are commonly known as Clarifiers. Some act like a magnet, bringing small particles together to form larger particules that will get caught in your filter. These are Flock Agents like Leisure Time Bright and Clear. Does your hot tub become extreamly foamy when you turn on your pumps? Not a problem, for Leisure Time Foam Down. This product prevents the foam from forming by putting a skin on your hot tub's water. Getting a scum ring around your hot tub? Get yourself some Leisure Time Scum Gon Enzyme.

Filter Cleaning

Think about what your filter is doing for your hot tub. It is collecting all the particulates that are swimming around the water with you. Once they are in the filter, You need to clean the it out. It is a good idea to clean your filter every 2-4 weeksl. Once a year is not! I've met people that have owned their hot tub for a couple of years and have never cleaned their filter. That's just plain NASTY! Do not be that person!

Okay, so the filter's out and you are looking at your choices. Do you clean it or replace it? Well since filters are not cheap and most of us aren't the owner of a hugh software company in Round Rock, that leaves cleaning the filte. You can soak it or you can use the spray-on instant cleaners. Just depends on how dirty your filter is. There are also some tools that can assist you in cleaning your filters.

It's a great idea to keep the hot tub surface clean. Leisure Time's Tub Rub and Citribright products work great.

Hot tub water chemistry is only as hard as you make it. It can be difficult chore or it could be super simple when using the right stuff. I hope you have took something away from this. I know there is a lot of info here and if you've read this entire thing I applaud you. Now read it again! No really, read it again.

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