Backyard spas provide many benefits, with their therapeutic hydrotherapy and the luxurious, relaxation of the fresh, warm, soothing water. This beautiful picture can be shattered, if your water is murky. Keeping your spa’s water clean is easy, once you know how. And it doesn’t take a lot of time or effort. Let’s review the basics (and not so basics) of how to treat your hot tub or spa water for sparkling clean water every soak.
The Importance of Treating Your Spa’s Water
In addition to protecting your body from harmful contaminants and making your therapeutic soaks all they should be, maintaining the freshness of your hot tub’s water contributes to the longevity of your spa. To ensure your hot tub is running at its optimal ability, it’s important to stay ahead of maintenance with regular at-home upkeep.
Initial Water Treatment for Your New Spa
Your Creative Energy representative will provide you with a manual for your specific spa and any additional water treatment systems which have been installed. They will also answer any questions you may have regarding getting your hot tub filled and treated for the first time. If you have concerns about your water, or are on a well, you may want to provide a tap water sample to your Creative Energy representative prior to installation, to determine if you need to take additional measures to begin with water that is not too hard or metallic.
Sanitizing and Balancing
To keep your spa water fresh and clean, you will need to periodically test and adjust the chemicals. Once you have mastered this simple task and have set a routine for yourself, testing and making these small adjustments will be a breeze.
Test strips will show the current levels with an easy-to-read multicolored indicator. From there, you’ll know which chemicals to add and how much. Most often it will be a matter of adding concentrated chlorine, in the form of water-soluble granules, or adding chemicals that raise or lower the pH, or alkaline, levels. You may also use a MPS chlorine-free oxidizer. The MPS shock treatments have a scented option to add aromatherapy to your therapeutic soak.
All of these essential hot tub water care products come with detailed instructions. If you have questions, or need help with how to treat your spa water, contact Creative Energy and a representative can walk you through it.
Hot Tub Water Treatment Systems
As an aide in maintaining fresh clean water for your therapeutic soaks, and reducing the amount of chemicals and maintenance or both, Creative Energy offers a variety of water treatment systems for the hot tubs we carry. Reducing your spa’s reliance on chlorine with the addition of one of a sanitation system can mitigate the smell of chlorine and possible chlorine-induced skin irritation.
Three chlorine-saving, water sanitation systems, available at Creative Energy, include:
- Freshwater Saltwater Chlorine Generator
The FreshWater® titanium cartridge-based system generates chlorine automatically to slightly salinized water, providing continuous, nearly effortless sanitizing and balancing. This system is available with HotSpring’s Highlife® and Limelight® collection hot tubs.
- Inline Sanitizing System
In-line chlorine sanitizing systems, such as the FROG® @ease® In-Line Sanitizing System, automatically delivers chlorine and important bacteria-deterring, water-softening minerals into the spa’s water, keeping the water fresh without weekly maintenance.
- Ozone Generators
Ozone systems, such as the FreshWater® Ozone System, keep the hot tub’s water continuously clean, when used with a silver ion cartridge. The ozone attacks the contaminants, reducing reliance on chlorine. These systems are compatible with in-line chlorine systems, but not salt-water chlorine generators.
What if I didn’t opt for a Water Treatment System?
Without a hot tub water treatment system, you will need to frequently test and manually add chlorine and other chemicals to ensure your hot tub is free of contaminants and microorganisms that the filtration system will not address. While manually adding chemicals may keep your water fresh, it does require more work and more chlorine than required with the efficiency of a water treatment system.
The video below will guide you through adding chemicals to your Hot Spring spa.
Maintenance Guide by Water Treatment Type
Your maintenance routine will vary, depending on the type of treatment system you have on your hot tub model. Again, once you learn how to treat your spa water and get into the routine, spa maintenance is simple. Plus, you’re rewarded with clean, sparkling water for the very best, safest hot tub experience.
Salt Water Chlorine Generator
This is the most hands-off, hassle-free maintenance system shy of hiring a pool maintenance person. Every 10 days, you will be prompted to test and adjust your settings. Simply dip a test strip into the water and adjust the output settings on your control panel, based on how the test strip reads. When it’s time to change the cartridge, if you have a FreshWater system, it’s super easy to swap out. Your FreshWater-equipped spa will come with complete instructions, and a beginner’s guide and startup kit.
Here is a helpful video to get you started with your FreshWater Salt Water Chlorine Generator.
If you’re thinking about adding a FreshWater Salt Water Chlorine Generator to your HotSpring Highlife or Limelight spa, read this article, “An Eco-Friendly Solution to Keeping Your Hot Tub Clean And Sanitized,” to learn about its many benefits.
Inline Sanitizing System
With inline sanitizing systems, the levels need not be checked and manually? adjusted weekly. With the added boost of the inline sanitizing system, the water is kept clean with up to 75% less chorine compared to manual upkeep.
Ozone Generator
Ozone systems, such as the FreshWater Ozone System, employ a combination of ozone and FreshWater ag+ (silver ions) to keep the water continually fresh. With this system, owners still need to add a weekly dose of chlorine to the water. However, your tub will require much less chlorine, since the water is also being cleaned by the ozone action. Ozone systems may be combined with in-line chlorine systems, but not saltwater chlorine generators.
Filtration Basics
Regardless of your sanitation, you will need to also keep your filtration system in good working order to keep out the larger unwanted contaminants such as debris from trees and plants, and hair and sloughed skin. To keep them working at their best, hot tub filters require a quick monthly cleaning with a garden hose equipped with a pressure-nozzle. Simply blast all 360 degrees of the filter, until it’s white again.
FreshWater Salt System Filter Cleaning
If you have a FreshWater® Salt System, you will also need to soak your filter in FreshWater® Salt System Filter Cleaner overnight each time the tub is drained. You can even put these filters in the dishwasher to effortless clean them. Make sure, though, not to use soap and use an unheated cycle. Creative Energy also carries a FreshWater® Filter Cleaner, which will clean your filter with an overnight soak in specially formulated chemicals.
Periodic Draining
Regardless of the system you employ to treat your spa water to keep it fresh and clean, it will still need to be periodically drained and refilled. How often will depend on a variety of factors, including frequency of use and the type of water treatment system, and how often the plumbing requires cleaning. A frequency of three to four times per year is most common. With a Salt-water system, however, draining is typically required only once a year.
For more information on additional types of maintenance your backyard spa will need, read this article with helpful hot tub maintenance tips.
Still Need Help? The Hot Tub Professionals at Creative Energy Are Here to Help!
If you still have questions, or would like to schedule a service call, Creative Energy is you partner for fresh, clean spa water. Our helpful staff can walk you through the maintenance tasks for your particular spa, help you troubleshoot an issue, or get you back on track with a service visit. Contact your nearest Bay Area showroom, in San Rafael, San Mateo, or Concord, or fill in the form below to request a service call.
