Hot Tub Maintenance Guide

Is your hot tub water always turning cloudy? Do you find the water harsh on your skin or eyes? Does the water foam excessively? You’ve come to the right place!

Water quality issues like these are common but easily fixed with a good maintenance schedule. Here’s everything you need to do to maintain good quality water and improve your hot tubbing experience!

SEMI-DAILY (EVERY 2-3 DAYS) HOT TUB MAINTENANCE

Test The Hot Tub Water

The best way to maintain good water quality is to ensure good water balance. Properly balanced water is not only safe to use, it is also more comfortable to be in and will even extend the life of the hot tub.

The best way to ensure that the water in your hot tub is balanced is with regular home water tests. Every 2-3 days, test your hot tub’s sanitizer (chlorine/bromine) and pH levels using a basic home water test kit. If you notice that one or both of these levels are too high or too low, adjust as needed. If you’re unsure how to balance your water, consult your local hot tub specialist for more info.

WEEKLY HOT TUB MAINTENANCE

Add Maintenance Chemicals

Along with regular testing and balancing of the water, you should add in maintenance chemicals once per week. Although the exact chemicals you use can vary (talk to your local hot tub specialists if you’re unsure what you should be adding), you should be “shocking” the hot tub every 1-2 weeks.

Shocking a hot tub allows the sanitizer in the water to work more effectively and can reduce the amount of sanitizer needed to keep the water clean and clear. When shocking your hot tub, be sure to keep your hot tub cover fully open for at least 5-10 minutes. The shocking process releases nitrogen and other gases which can harm the underside of the cover if it is left closed during this process.

Along with shocking the hot tub, it is also a great idea to add a scale preventer once per week. This stops calcium and other minerals in the water from forming scale in the hot tub and can extend the overall life of the hot tub.

Rinse The Filter

You should rinse your hot tub’s filter with a garden hose every 1-2 weeks; depending on how often you use it.

Check The Skimmer Basket

When you rinse your filter it is also a great idea to check the skimmer basket. Remove any leaves from the skimmer basket and give it a quick rinse along with your filter.

Check Water Level

The water in the hot tub should cover around 1/2 to 2/3 of the skimmer hole. Any higher and floating debris won’t be skimmed off the surface of the water. Any lower and the pumps might not get enough water flowing through them, which can reduce their lifespan. Once per week, check the water level in your hot tub and adjust if needed.

MONTHLY HOT TUB MAINTENANCE

Get Your Water Professionally Tested

Along with regular home water tests, you should also bring a sample of our hot tub water to your local hot tub professionals around once per month to have it professionally tested. Professional water testing systems are able to do a much more in-depth, and accurate, water analysis than home test kits can.

Things like metals and phosphates are not able to be tested with home kits but can cause real problems if not treated. To get the most accurate results from your test, turn the hot tub jets on for a few seconds before taking the sample.

QUARTERLY (EVERY 3-4 MONTHS) HOT TUB MAINTENANCE

Drain The Hot Tub

Over time, ultrafine particles (known as “dissolved solids”) build up in the water. While these particles (typically salts and other minerals) are harmless, high levels of dissolved solids can cause the water to look cloudy. High TDS (total dissolved solids) can also affect the feel of the water, making it feel “harder” than fresh water.

The only way to remove these dissolved solids is to drain and refill the hot tub. On average, most hot tubs will need to be drained every 3-4 months. Since they filter the water so efficiently, Self-Cleaning Hydropool hot tubs should only have to be drained every 4-6 months though.

Clean The Plumbing

Before draining your hot tub, it is a good idea to add a plumbing cleaner to the water. These cleaners are designed to break down biofilm that builds up on the walls of the plumbing, causing foamy water and reducing the effectiveness of your chlorine or bromine sanitizers.

Simply add the cleaner to the water an hour before draining and let circulate with the hot tub jets on until it is time to drain. These cleaners are environmentally friendly and completely safe to drain out with the water.

Clean Filters

While rinsing your hot tub filters does remove dirt and other large particles; oils and lotions will still build up on them over time. Along with regular rinsing, you should therefore also chemically clean off your filters a few times a year. Soaking the filter in a cleaning solution 3-4 times a year will remove the buildup of oils and keep your filter working at peak efficiency.

Add UV Protectant To Cover

The UV radiation from the sun can damage the vinyl skin of your hot tub cover; reducing the life of the cover. To combat this, apply a UV protectant spray every few months. This spray will both clean the cover and protect it from UV damage; extending the life of your hot tub cover.

YEARLY HOT TUB MAINTENANCE

Replace Filters

Depending on how often you use the hot tub, the filters should be replaced every 12-18 months.

Over time, the filter fibres will begin to stretch, allowing larger and larger debris to pass through them. If the hot tub water is fresh but still has a hard time staying clear, chances are your filters are ready to be replaced.

Check Cover (Does It Need To Be Replaced?)

Lastly, it is a good idea to check over your cover at least once a year to assess whether or not it should be replaced. While new hot tub covers aren’t cheap; waterlogged or damaged covers are extremely inefficient insulators. This inefficiency can easily cost an extra few hundred dollars a year in added energy costs.

WRAPPING UP

The key to good quality hot tub water is consistency. That doesn’t mean you have to dedicate a ton of time and energy to maintain your hot tub though. In fact, regular maintenance is typically much less work than fixing water quality issues. Once you get a routine down, hot tub maintenance is actually quite simple! Spending 5-10 minutes per week on maintenance is all you need to keep the water safe to use and ensure a long life from your hot tub.