Ahhhh…nothing like a relaxing sit in the spa—
especially if it’s cold out or after a long, hard day.
Whatever you do, don’t ruin that moment with improper water chemistry. I know, I just spoiled the moment for you, didn’t I? Well, we have to be realistic…when the real moment comes, we want it to be perfect! I, personally, am very sensitive to spa water chemistry. I can’t stand strong fumes in the room or in my face as I’m trying to relax.
Do you know how important it is to properly sanitize your spa? It’s extremely important, even more so than your pool. It’s all important, of course, but in a spa, you are breathing the fumes from the steam coming off the hot water right into your lungs. If it’s not properly sanitized you could be inhaling unhealthy fumes. Germs spread faster in hot water. Now, if you’re like some of our past Presidents and you don’t inhale, you might be alright. If you do though, you could develop something as dangerous to your health as bacterial pneumonia so please test, balance, and sanitize your spa properly and routinely.
Not to stay negative but I’m a sensitive one. I mention these things so we can address them before they happen—beat them to the punch! My skin gets very itchy if my spa balance is not just right. You might be the same. This is why we carry different programs. Some people are very happy with the conventional spa treatments and if so, they shouldn’t change a thing. If you have a system that works, stick with it. In my spa, I use a program by Pristine Blue. It’s specially designed for spas. It is designed as a chlorine-free alternative. We normally use it as a low chlorine alternative, adding chlorine only as needed for oncoming cloudiness. The program is EPA and NSF approved. Pristine Blue, itself, is a bactericide. It is compatible with chlorine and bromine and works well with ozonators. We also offer other programs so let us know if you’re not happy with the program you’re on.
In a spa, you think you’re just treating a few hundred gallons of water. How hard can that be? Don’t let it fool you. You’re treating the germs in that little body of water, regardless of the volume—and as I stated above, germs spread faster in hot water. Be on top of your game!
Balancing can be tricky too. It’s very easy to put a little too much when doses consist of such small amounts. Be careful and test often. It is recommended that you drain and refill your spa every few months. Just like pouring sugar into tea…when you pour the chemicals into your spa, they dissolve. You can’t see the sugar when it’s in there but it’s there. If you kept adding sugar, it would keep dissolving and it would still be there. Eventually, you would have too much sugar and you would want to start with a fresh cup of tea. It’s the same with your hot tub. Eventually, you will have too many dissolved solids in your water and it will become harder to maintain. To prevent this disturbance, we drain and start fresh every few months.
One more thing you’ll want to protect besides your lungs is your heater. Actually, if you don’t protect your heater, you won’t have to protect your lungs because your hot tub will be cold and you won’t want to sit in it.
To get back to that ahhhhh feeling, let’s maintain proper balance in our spas along with proper sanitizing. Improper pH and Total Alkalinity, in particular, will cause corrosion in your heating element and filtration system so be aware and let’s care. Afterall, besides not having that stress-relieving, mind-clearing, melt-all-the-tension-away hot water, you’ll have to put in more stressful days to pay for the heater you just ruined by not testing your pH. Okay, I’m being a killjoy. Really, I’m not like that…just some solid advice from a fellow spa enthusiast!