Imagine stepping into your hot tub for a relaxing soak—only to discover unsightly scale buildup, clogged jets that don’t work right, and dry, irritated skin. If this sounds familiar, you might have hard water in your hot tub.
Hard water has high mineral levels that can damage your hot tub, but fortunately, there are plenty of solutions to address this issue. In this guide, we explain what hard water is, how it affects your hot tub, and what to do about it, so you can get right back to relaxation.
What Is Hard Water?
Hard water has high levels of minerals like calcium and magnesium. This is what causes marks on your silverware and glassware after running the dishwasher—and scale buildup in your hot tub.
These minerals occur naturally in water, and they’re important for maintaining balanced hot tub water chemistry. However, high levels can do more harm than good.
5 Negative Effects of Hard Hot Tub Water
Hard water’s high mineral content can be detrimental to hot tubs. While these minerals are present in every naturally occurring water source, imbalanced levels can cause problems for plumbing systems and appliances—including your hot tub. Below are some common negative effects of hard hot tub water.
1. Scale Buildup
Hard water can cause scale buildup, which is composed of the mineral deposits left behind when it evaporates. Also known as limescale, this white, chalk-like substance often accumulates where water is collected, heated, or dispensed—and it can cause major problems for your hot tub.
Scale buildup can manifest on the walls of your hot tub, but it commonly settles within hard-to-see places like the jets, heating elements, plumbing, and more. Over time, it can clog these deeper components and reduce their effectiveness, or make them stop working completely.
2. Increased Energy Consumption
If scale buildup clogs the heating elements inside your hot tub, this can cause them to work less efficiently. The heating system may consume more energy as it works harder to maintain temperature, which can decrease energy efficiency and increase electricity bills.
3. Poor Water Quality
High mineral levels can significantly decrease water quality by interfering with essential hot tub sanitization chemicals. Scale buildup may also clog filtration and circulation systems, rendering them less effective.
Without proper filtration and circulation, your hot tub becomes the perfect environment for bacteria, algae, and pathogens. This can result in unclean water and even potential safety concerns.
4. Skin and Hair Health
The effects of hard hot tub water extend beyond your spa alone. The minerals in hard hot tub water can strip natural oils from your skin and hair, resulting in fragile, brittle hair prone to breakage1, and dry, irritated skin.
5. Hot Tub Pipe Corrosion
Your hot tub has a complex plumbing system of pipes that contribute to heating, circulation, filtration, and jet action. Hard water and scale buildup can corrode these essential pipes gradually over time, which means you may not notice until the damage is already done.
How to Tell if You Have Hard Water
Addressing hard hot tub water as quickly as possible helps prevent smaller problems from escalating into larger ones, restores your water quality, and ultimately prevents irreparable damage to your spa.
So, how do you know if your hot tub water is hard or soft?
Signs of Hard Water in Your Hot Tub
Some of the most common signs of hard hot tub water include:
- Irritated skin or eyes
- Visible scale buildup on the walls, seats, and jets
- Cloudy or milky water
- Faulty circulation or filtration systems
- Difficulty maintaining the water’s chemical balance
Signs of Hard Water in Your Home
The water you’re using for your hot tub is likely the same water you use around your home. If you don’t notice visible scale buildup and you’re unsure whether your hot tub has hard water, it might be useful to check for signs of it around the home first, including:
- White spots on glassware, silverware, and faucets
- Scale buildup on faucets, showerheads, and kitchen appliances (kettles, ice machines, dishwashers)
- Frequently clogged drains in sinks, baths, and showers
If you notice any of these signs around your home, it’s a good idea to test your hot tub for hard water.
How to Test for Hard Hot Tub Water
While visible signs like scale buildup usually indicate there is hard water in your hot tub, the only way to know for sure is with a testing kit.
The Freshwater 5-way Test Strips kit contains 50 test strips that check the Bromine, Chlorine, Alkalinity, pH, and Total Hardness levels of your hot tub water. This will give you an accurate assessment of your water’s chemistry so you can know what needs to be adjusted.
How Do I Soften Hard Water in My Hot Tub?
All water contains minerals. While there is no way to eradicate them completely, it’s possible to reduce high mineral levels and soften your hot tub water.
Staying on top of cleaning, maintenance, and water care is essential for keeping hard water under control. You can use a phosphate remover to reduce levels of calcium phosphate in your hot tub, which will help reduce scale buildup and protect your spa from damage.
You can also request professional hot tub cleaning and maintenance to have an expert handle the problem for you.
Expert Hot Tub Cleaning and Maintenance Services in the Bay Area
From unbalanced water chemistry to damaging scale buildup, hard water can have many detrimental effects for your hot tub. By keeping up with regular cleaning and proper water care, you can ensure your hot tub is crystal clear and ready for your next relaxing soak.
For decades, Creative Energy has been a leading Bay Area retailer of hot tubs, swim spas, fireplaces, and more. If you suspect hard water or any other issue with your hot tub, contact us online today to request professional cleaning or maintenance and one of our friendly experts will get things back up and running in no time.
References
- Srinivasan, G., Srinivas, C. R., Mathew, A. C., & Duraiswami, D. (2013). Effects of hard water on hair. International Journal of Trichology, 5(3), 137. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-7753.125609