Spa Chemical Start Up Guide
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Balancing your spa or hot tub water after draining and refilling is an important step for many whose tap water is less than perfect.
Doing it in the right order is even more important, to prevent problems and make adjustment and balance something that takes just a few hours, not days.
Many of our customers have fill water that is very hard , very acidic , and loaded with metals or metals, phosphates and nitrates, or silt and sediment. Not good spa water.
My spa fill water is from a well, and even after water treatment, it has a high pH and is full of minerals and metals.
Here’s my 3 step process for refilling a spa, balancing the chemistry, and starting sanitation.
Balancing Your Hot Tubs Water
Balancing your hot tub water is a vital part of being a good hot tub owner. The pH scale measures acidic and alkali conditions using a guide of 0-14. pH 7 is neutral, meaning anything below 7 is acidic, while a pH rating of above 7 gives you an alkaline reading.
The ideal pH level for bromine is 7.0-7.4, and for chlorine, the ideal pH level is between 7.2 and 7.6. This is to ensure your spa equipment is protected and any friends and family who come to bathe can do so in comfort. If your pH level is incorrect, you will need to use more chlorine or bromine, as your chemicals won’t be as effective if your pH levels are not correct.
Hot Tub Start Up Chemicals: How To Open For The Season
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Hot tubs are an excellent way to sit back, relax your muscles, and destress. However, while hot tubs are known for their relaxing nature, hot tub maintenance can be a scary process to tackle. Learning and knowing what chemicals to use, how to open for the season, and how to properly maintain a hot tub may seem daunting.
Thankfully, hot tub care experts are here to help you every step of the way. We will walk you through everything you need to know regarding hot tub start up chemicals for a successful hot tub season, from understanding why chemicals are essential to an outlined hot tub setup process.
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What Chemicals Should I Put In My Hot Tub For The First Time
Hot tubs are an amazing source of relaxation and leisure for people throughout the world. Whether you are using your brand new tub to relax tense muscles or just to simply destress from the day, you will want to make sure you are putting the right chemicals in the very first time you use it to ensure safety for you and your family.
The chemicals you will need to start your hot tub include a pH increaser, pH decreaser, calcium hardness, a metal removal and a sanitiser. The chemicals have to go in a certain order for the process to work. Your final goal should be to balance your pH level between 7.4 and 7.6 and your alkalinity between 100-200 parts per million.
If you just bought a brand new hot tub, chances are you are really excited about your new purchase and want to do everything you can to make it a safe and fun experience for you, your family and your guests. Keep reading to learn the exact chemicals, methods and tips for starting your hot tub for the first time.
While the chemicals youll need to add to your spa will depend on your situation, a basic list of chemicals every spa owner should have includes:
- Spa sanitiser such as bromine or chlorine.
- A pH increaser and decreaser such as FreshWater® pH/Alkalinity Up and FreshWater® pH/Alkalinity Down
- Spa shock solution, such as chlorine or MPS.
How To Start A Hot Tub Or Spa
- |April 13, 2021
Over time, no matter how much sanitizer is in the tub, the water becomes overloaded with pollutants and total dissolved solids .
This makes the water unsafe to bathe in, and at that point, youll have to drain the tub and start over.
If youve never done it before, youll learn its quite easy to do, and you wont have to pay a professional to stop by and care for your tub.
Skip to:
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Spa Chlorine Chemical Start
CONTAINS: SpaGuard Spa Complete 70oz, SpaGuard Chlorine Concentrate 2lb, SpaGuard Enhanced Shock 2lb, SpaGuard Stain & Scale Control 1 Quart, BioGuard 5-Way Water Test Strips, Scum Absorber, Hot Tub Care Log Book Approximate 4 month supply
DELUXE: Spa Complete gives your hot tub water a true feeling of luxury! Wonderfully soft and noticeably cleaner, you will never want to soak without SpaGuard Spa Complete again!
APPROVED: Chlorine is the most popular hot tub sanitizing system historically, because of its ease of use and effectiveness and keeping your water clean, clear and safe!
Remove Air From The Lines
From air locks to pump issues, air bubbles in your hot tubs plumbing can lead to a whole range of issues. How you go about this step is dependent on your hot tubs manufacturer and model some have self-priming features, others dont. Therefore, you should consult your owners manual to find out how to go about completing this essential step.
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Don’t Forget About Filters
Most acrylic spas will have a cartridge filter system and hot tub pump. You should regularly check that your filtration system is in good working order at least once a week. Please note that when your hot tub cartridge filter is dirty, its performance will deteriorate. This can lead to dirty and potentially contaminated water.
Usually, spa cartridges will need cleaning weekly , however, we would advise more regular cleaning if your hot tub is being used a lot. Other factors that can affect how often you should clean your filters are contaminants like grass, leaves, fake tanning products, body creams, make up, soaps and detergents.
Do You Need To Add Shock After Filling A Hot Tub
You actually dont need to add any spa shock right at this stage. Shock helps kill contaminants and remove compounds that build up over time, like chloramines or bromamines. Because your hot tub is full of fresh water, and you dont have any build-up of contaminants, you dont need to add shock right away.
You can add a non-chlorine shock once a week when your hot tub is in use. This will help refresh your sanitizer levels. You can also use a chlorine shock if youre experiencing issues with your hot tub water, like cloudy water or algae, or if your hot tub is in high use.
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What Hot Tub Start
There are five essential hot tub chemicals you need to add during start-up.
- Baking Soda raises alkalinity. Slightly raises pH
- Soda Ash raises pH in large steps. Slightly raises alkalinity.
- Sodium Bisulfate or muriatic acid lowers alkalinity and pH
- Calcium Chloride to raise calcium hardness levels
- Chlorine or Bromine sanitizer to kill bacteria
Remember, before you start blindly adding chemicals, youll need to test your hot tub water first using a test kit or test strips.
Beginners Guide To Spa & Hot Tub Maintenance
Please note: We are no longer able to offer international delivery. Our delivery area is Mainland UK only. Apologies for any inconvenience.
We know here at Outdoor Living know that a hot tub is a significant investment, so why wouldn’t you arm yourself with all the information necessary to take care of your tub. This beginner’s guide will help you through your first steps in spa ownership and ensure you have all the knowledge needed to set up your hot tub or spa.
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Natural Spa Chemicals Mineral Sticks Ozone And Enzymes
Have you ever wanted a more natural solution instead of the manufactured chlorine and bromine? Then youll be happy to learn natural spa chemicals do exist.
Your first choice is mineral sticks. This product employs the power of silver and copper ions to keep your water fresh and clean. Moreover, this eco-friendly option also comes with a much more mild smell when compared to the strong odours of chlorine and bromine.
Sadly, not all is perfect here, so youll want to keep a few things in mind. For starters, mineral sticks lack the sanitation power of chlorine and bromine, so youll want to combine these sticks with a small amount of one or the other to keep your water bacteria free.
An alternative to mineral sticks is ozone. For the most part, this is another eco-friendly means of keeping your hot tub clean. Only instead of placing a bulky stick in your inflatable hot tub, youll inject the ozone into your water pipe with an ozonator. For products, the Del Ozone Spa Eclipse Dual Voltage works great for inserting ozone in your water.
Lastly, enzymes work as a great natural sanitizer. These work by targeting oils and destroying them before they are able to grow and pollute your water. Sadly, much like mineral sticks, this product is not strong enough to work on its own. Therefore, you will need to add a small amount of bromine or chlorine as well. One of the best enzymes youll find on the market is the Leisure Time Spa Enzyme.
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What Order Do You Add Hot Tub Chemicals
Before adding chemicals, test your water. If this is your very first time filling up your hot tub, you may want to use a more comprehensive test kit to measure calcium hardness or metals like iron and copper.
Tip: Filling up your hot tub with a hose filter can help remove impurities like metals and calcium before they get into your spa.
Next, heat up your spa until the water temperature reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees celsius. The hot water will disperse your chemicals more effectively. And run your jets, turn off air valves and keep your cover off of your hot tub.
Finally, its time to add your chemicals one at a time, waiting at least 20 minutes between each chemical before retesting. Heres the step-by-step sequence we recommend for adding chemicals to your hot tub:
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Ph And Alkalinity: How To Adjust Ph And Alkalinity Levels In Your Hot Tub
If your hot tubs pH and alkalinity levels are out of balance, it can cause skin irritation and make the water uncomfortable. Luckily, there are a few steps to adjust your hot tubs pH and alkalinity levels.
Add a pH increaser or sodium bicarbonate to raise the pH level. You can add a pH decrease or muriatic acid to lower the pH level.
You can add sodium carbonate to raise the alkalinity. To lower the alkalinity level, add an acidic solution like white vinegar.
Its essential to regularly test the pH and alkalinity levels in your hot tub and make adjustments as needed.
Alkalinity Increaser Ph Decreaser Ph Increaser
One of the most confusing elements of hot tub water chemistry is pH and total alkalinity. pH measures how acidic your water is. And alkalinity acts as a buffer for pH, neutralizing incoming acid and keeping your pH from drastically changing. These two go hand-and-hand and affect each other whenever they change.
Your total alkalinity levels should be between 100 and 150 ppm. And the proper level for pH is between 7.4 to 7.6. Low pH can cause corrosion in your spa. And high pH can cause itchy, dry skin and burning eyes.
There are a lot of products out there designed to raise or lower both pH and alkalinity all at once. But its important to have chemicals on hand that do one thing at a time.
- Alkalinity increaser: If your waters total alkalinity dips too low, it can also bring your pH levels down. Thats why its important to have an alkalinity increaser on hand.
- pH decreaser : But what if the alkalinity gets too high? Well, theres actually no product called alkalinity decreaser. To lower your alkalinity, youll need to use a pH decreaser. And a pH decreaser obviously lowers pH, too. If your pH is too high, it can reduce your sanitizers effectiveness and cause cloudy hot tub water.
- pH increaser : If your pH is too low, it could cause burning eyes and corrode parts in your hot tub. Thats when youll need to use a pH increaser.
Because this part of water chemistry can feel so complex, we have an entire guide on How to Balance Hot Tub pH .
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Alkalinity Increaser Ph Decreaser & Ph Increaser
Most new hot tub owners find it hard to wrap their heads around pH and total alkalinity, which appear to be closely related concepts. pH is normally used to tell how acidic your water is, and alkalinity implies how alkaline or basic the water is.
The two go hand in hand, and altering one affects the other. So, if you add chlorine to the water, it behaves like a weak acid to kill contaminants, and an alkalinity increaser will act as a buffer to balance the water.
The recommended alkalinity levels of your hot tub should range from 100 to 150 ppm . You should also maintain the pH level within the range of 7.4 to 7.6, which is close to neutral.
If it falls below that, the water will burn your eyes, and youll soon be dealing with the nasty effects of corrosion in your tub.
But if the pH exceeds 7.6, the water is too alkaline and will cause itchy, dry skin and a burning sensation in your eyes. The water also becomes cloudy and it reduces the effectiveness of tub sanitizer.
Youll need a pH decreaser like the AquaDoc pH Decreaser to lower the alkalinity and prevent the water from becoming cloudy.
A pH increaser like the SpaGuard pH Increaser raises the pH of your tubs water to make it less acidic. If you go overboard with the pH increaser and your alkalinity dips too low, you can raise it with an alkalinity increaser .
Using Hot Tub Chemicals If You Have Kids
Kids having fun in the waterSource:
Spending time in a hot tub is the favorite way for children to have fun on a summer day. But having used sanitizer, shocking products, and other chemicals, you may worry about the effect of the chemicals on your childs health. And yes, there are some concerns to keep in mind.
According to the research of the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids are likely to have chlorine sensitivity. Symptoms include red eyes, breathing problems, chest tightness, wheezing, a stuffy or runny nose, and sneezing. Doctors recommend taking a shower to eliminate mild symptoms. There are also corticosteroid creams and antihistamines which can help deal with chlorine sensitivity but always consult with your pediatrician first .
Besides chlorine sensitivity, there are other serious health concerns caused by chlorine. US Medicine National Institutes of Health researched to figure out whether there is a connection between chlorinated hot tubs/ swimming pools and pre-school asthma onset. A dose-response relationship was indicated, although with limited statistical power .
Taking into account scientific evidence, we would recommend that you stick to the bromine sanitizing system if you have children.
- Dont allow children under 5 years to use the hot tub
- Check the water temperature before entering a hot tub. It shouldnt exceed 104°F or 40°C
- Check the sanitizer level before entering the tub. Poorly sanitized water can cause rashes and ear infections
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Well Water In A Hot Tub
If you have a hot tub that is supplied by a well, you may be wondering if the water is safe to use. The short answer is yes, but there are a few things you should keep in mind.
Well, water can contain higher levels of minerals than municipal water, so its important to test it regularly and adjust the pH as needed. You should also have your well inspected annually to make sure its in good working order.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it require more chemicals than pools, so youll need to use them more often when using well water. But with a little extra care, you can enjoy it without any worries.
Heres What You Need To Know About Shocking Your Hot Tub:
- First, purchase a shock product designed for hot tubs and follow the directions on the package.
- Second, youll want to shock once a week for the first month.
- Third, adding the shock product is best after you turn off the pump and filter.
- Fourth, you want to add the recommended amount of shock product.
- Fifth, turn on the pump and filter and allow it to circulate for 30 minutes.
- Sixth, check the waters PH after that time has passed.
- Seventh, add any additional amounts of shock product needed to bring the PH to 7.2 7.6
- Eighth, put your hot tub cover on and enjoy.
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Hot Tub Chemicals For Beginners: What You Need And How To Add Them
There are a few hot tub chemicals you absolutely need to keep your water clean and clear. And there are a few that arent really necessary. It also matters what order you add each chemical to your hot tub. Adding the wrong chemicals and in the wrong sequence can create a spa water nightmare.
So heres a complete step-by-step walkthrough on which hot tub chemicals are definitely required, which ones you can skip, and how to add each chemical to your hot tub .
You can watch the quick video below or keep reading for the complete guide on spa chemicals.
