Hot tub owner – My Pool & Spa

Your Hot Tub, Your Sanctuary

A hot tub is more than just bubbles, it’s your space to unwind, and reconnect with what matters most. Maintaining clean and safe water is essential for an enjoyable experience. Whether you’re a new owner or seeking to enhance your routine, our AquaSPArkle range, how-to videos, and expert tips simplify hot tub care, ensuring it’s always ready to enjoy.

Download your copy of our AquaSPArkle Spa Care Guide here.

How To Remove Scale In Your Hot Tub
Why do you have scale?

Scale is a build-up of minerals in your hot tub that have developed over time. Due to the high temperatures of your hot tub water, the minerals precipitate out and become rough, hard scale deposits on the surface of the hot tub that can feel like sandpaper. These deposits can also occur within your pipework, in your cartridge filter, and on fixtures. When scale is allowed to build up it can render your heater inefficient, clog your filters and decrease the flow of water through the pipework, therefore reducing the performance of the massage jets.

Possible causes

Why me? It may not be anything you’ve done; some areas are more prone to this than others. If you reside in a hard water area (mainly south of the UK), your water will have high levels of calcium, this makes you more susceptible to scale deposits than soft water areas.

Scale is encouraged when:

You are in a hard water area (high calcium content of the water)

Your water has a high TA value (over 150mg/l)

Your water has a high pH (over 7.6)

TDS level has risen above the BISHTA recommendation of 1500ppm

How to remove scale:

If the water has been left unchecked and scale has been allowed to form, then there is a process that will need to be followed to remove the scale deposits.

Lower the total alkalinity levels using AquaSPArkle pH minus granules dosed in accordance with instructions for lowering TA, to within the accepted range, preferably towards the lower end of that range. (Check your pH level after doing this).

Lower the pH level to 7.0 using AquaSPArkle pH minus granules dosed in accordance with instructions for lowering pH (check your TA level after doing this).

Add AquaSPArkle ScaleAway in accordance with the instructions. If the scale is heavy, then a double initial dose may be required.

You may have to maintain your water at these chemical levels for up to 2 weeks to allow the scale to be dissolved and absorbed back into the water.

Once the scale has totally gone from the surface of the spa then TA and pH levels can be adjusted if required.

Install a new filter. The original will probably be full of scale deposits that will reduce the water flow and possibly effect the performance of the jets and the heater which could lead to a costly breakdown repair.

Remember: Prevention is better than cure!

Test your water regularly to ensure that your pH levels do not rise too high

Regularly add AquaSPArkle ScaleAway

Check TDS levels and either partially or fully drain as needed

The solution to pollution is dilution!

How To Remove The Scum Line From Your Hot Tub
What is a scum line?

The word scum has some negative connotations and for good reasons. The scum line on your hot tub is made up of organic waste. So, it is only natural that you want to remove it.

Knowing what causes the scum line will help you to prevent it in the future, whilst also informing you on how best to treat it. Scum lines are caused by a collection of bodily oils and organic waste that people excrete when bathing. Common culprits are:

Mineral Deposits – calcium

Body oils – sweat

Lotions – moisturisers, fake tan

Cosmetics – make up, hair products, deodorant, perfume

How Do I Prevent Getting a Scum Line?

Shower before getting in

Scum lines are commonly caused by a build-up of human and organic waste. Showering before using your hot tub helps to remove any of that waste such as body oils, cosmetics and antiperspirant from your body. If you do not shower beforehand this waste will float on the waterline and cling to the surfaces, causing a scum line to develop. Showering will not remove all organic waste, but it will help to discourage it from entering your hot tub.

Balancing your water

Balancing your water helps you to achieve perfect bathing conditions. Testing your water regularly and adding the necessary chemicals to keep your water balanced will prevent conditions that can encourage a scum line. High TA and pH readings encourage scum line formation.

Regular shock dosing

A ‘shock dose’ is the addition of a higher than usual amount of chlorine to your hot tub. This can be done with chlorine granules, but more commonly used is rapid shock or spa fusion. These products will remove organic waste that is naturally introduced into the hot tub by bathers and the elements. Shock dosing weekly will prevent a scum line forming.

Check your filters

The filters are the dustbins of your hot tub! They collect debris and general gunk that can build up in your water. If the filter is clogged or old, it will not remove the debris from the water effectively. Any waste that sits in your water can develop a scum line on the hot tub surface. Ensuring your filters are properly maintained will help in the prevention of a scum line.

Rinse – use a hose to rinse any debris off your filter

Spray – use the instant filter cleaner for a 15-minute chemical treatment to rapidly remove grease and oils from your filter

Soak – using an immerse sachet or cartridge cleaner to give your filter a deep treatment. This helps to remove stubborn oils, scale and grease build up in your filter

How Do I Treat a scum line?

Drain some of the spa water to allow access to the scum line. Apply some surface cleaner to a non-abrasive cloth and scrub the scum line. We recommend Gold Horizons Spa & Pool Perfect or AquaSPArkle Surface Cleaner. Rinse the cloth to remove any scum from the cloth. Repeat this process.

Why Is My Water Cloudy?
Why do I have cloudy water?

Possible Causes

Lack of disinfectant in the water

Buildup of bather wastes

Incorrect chemical balance

Filtration

How to clear cloudy water

There are various factors to consider at this point but the main consideration is when was the hot tub last drained and refilled?

It is recommended that you drain and refill your hot tub on a monthly basis, but this can be extended up to a maximum of 3 months if it is lightly used.

If the water is near to being changed as per the above guidelines, then the procedure and products required would differ from those required for a hot tub that would remain full and have the cloudy water treated to clear it up.

Let’s first think about a reasonably freshly filled hot tub and what could make it turn cloudy:-

Lack of sanitiser

Bather pollution

Incorrect water balance

All of the above are relatively straightforward to remedy

LACK OF SANITISER (chlorine or bromine)

Cause

The sanitiser level in the water can become non-existent at any time through lack of maintenance, regular testing or an out of date or compromised testing method, we will focus on test strips as the primary method used to test hot tubs.

If there is not enough sanitiser in the water when you get in, it will be quickly used up and there will be nothing left when you get out

The absence of a sanitiser will allow bacteria to grow in the water, therefore making the water cloudy.

How To Recover

Shock dose your hot tub to boost sanitiser levels and remove bather wastes

In future, ensure that there is always sanitiser present in the water, you may need to utilise either a floating dispenser or an in-line sanitising system for this

Recommended products:

AquaSPArkle Spa Fusion Sachet

AquaSPArkle Non-Chlorine Shock

AquaSPArkle Rapid / Granular Shock

BATHER POLLUTION

Cause

If bathers are either entering the hot tub wearing sun creams, body lotions, fake tan, cosmetic make up products, hair gel, massage oil or are not showering after a long day at work, then what they are introducing to the water (sweat, physical dirt and dust) will be causing the water to cloud up.

All of the above products and scenarios will quickly consume any sanitiser that is in the water and allow bacteria to grow and cause cloudy conditions.

How To Recover

A shock dose will be required to kill bacteria and oxidise, or “burn off” the bather wastes

Recommend products:

AquaSPArkle Spa Fusion Sachet

AquaSPArkle Non-Chlorine Shock

AquaSPArkle Rapid / Granular Shock

INCORRECT WATER BALANCE

Cause

Chlorine needs to be able to work at its optimum efficiency and it can only do this if the total alkalinity, pH and TDS levels are within the recommended ranges.

All of these parameters, either individually or together in any combination, can cause cloudy water

How to recover

Using a reliable testing method firstly check the total alkalinity level

If the total alkalinity is not correct, then it will have an effect on the pH level:

Too high and the pH is difficult to adjust

Too low and the pH will fluctuate

When in the correct range the pH will be stable and can move freely

Once the TA level is correct then the pH can be adjusted

CAUTION – If the pH level is high and a large amount of pH minus is added, this can also reduce the total alkalinity level

Be sure to recheck both levels once the pH has been lowered

Readjust the TA level if required – adjusting the TA level will not affect the pH level

The pH level effects the efficacy of the sanitiser, the higher the pH the less efficient your sanitiser will be.

It is important to maintain pH levels and not let them drift above the recommended range

Test the water regularly

Use a reliable testing method

Understand your water chemistry

Recommended products:

Increase total alkalinity levels

AquaSPArkle Spa TA Plus

Adjust pH levels

AquaSPArkle pH Plus

AquaSPArkle pH Minus

Test the water

AquaSPArkle 4 Way Test Strips

General advice

Test regularly, whether you are using your hot tub or not, come rain, shine, snow or rain, test every day

Pre bathing hygiene will keep your water fresher for longer

If there is an issue with water quality and clarity, then the problem will be in your filter too. Keep the filters clean, and fit cleaned and dried filters as part of your routine maintenance.

Remember, prevention is better than cure!

Why Is The Water All Foamy?
Why has the water gone foamy?

Your spa and hot tub water can become foamy for two reasons. These being:

Contamination in the water

Incorrect chemical levels

Possible causes

Bathers can introduce contamination into the water in multiple ways:

Sweat

Cosmetics

Fake Tan

Body Oils

Suntan lotion

Massage oil

Hair gel

Urea

Chemical values out of range can also contribute to foaming. These being:

pH level too high

TDS levels too high

How to solve the problem:

Skim the foam off the water surface

Get the cause of the foam out of the water

Clean the spa

Clean the filter

Test and check before use

What products are needed to sort the problem?

AquaSPArkle FoamAway

AquaSPArkle Spa Sparkle

AquaSPArkle Surface Cleaner

AquaSPArkle Instant Filter Cleaner for a quick fix, or either AquaSPArkle Cartridge Cleaner or AquaSPArkle Immerse to deep clean the filter

AquaSPArkle Spa Fusion sachet. Check total alkalinity, pH and sanitiser levels are within recommended ranges before use.

Additional information.

If foaming has occurred previously it may be that the TDS levels are too high and a drain down and refill procedure would be recommended.

It would be good practice to have at least one spare filter cartridge that has been previously deep cleaned, rinsed available to use after such an event.

Remember

Prevention is better than cure.

Promote pre-bathing hygiene and shower before getting in.

The solution to pollution is dilution.

It is recommended to drain and refill your hot tub on a monthly basis but this can be extended up to a maximum of 3 months for lightly used hot tubs.