Hot tub owner – My Pool & Spa

Your hot tub will help to melt away your troubles whilst soothing both your body and your mind.

Whether you soak to relieve aching muscles or to simply spend quality time with loved ones, it is essential you treat the water so it is clean, safe and comfortable for use. Water that is balanced, disinfected and filtered will provide you with a haven of hydrotherapy.

How To Remove Scale In Your Spa?
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 of the water and become rough, hard scale deposits on the surface of the spa that can feel like sandpaper. These deposits (are often found) will also occur within your pipework and in your cartridge filter (fixtures and even the shell of your spa). When scale is allowed to build up it can render your heater inefficient, clog your filters (and put pressure on) and decrease the flow of water through the pipework of your spa and therefore reduce 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 has high levels of calcium in it, 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 a spa 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.
1. Lower the total alkalinity of the spa 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).
2. 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).
3. Add AquaSPArkle Spa Scale Away in accordance with the instructions. If the scale is heavy, then a double initial dose may be required.
4. 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.
5. Once the scale has totally gone from the surface of the spa then TA and pH levels can be adjusted if required.
6. 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 Spa Scale Away
- Check TDS levels and either partially or fully drain as needed
The solution to pollution is dilution!

How Do I Remove The Scum Line On My Spa?
Why Do I Have A Scum Line On My Spa?

The word scum has some negative connotations and for good reasons. The scum line on your spa is made up of some horrid organic waste. So, it is only natural your desire is to remove it from your spa.

Knowing what is causing the scum line will help to prevent it in the future. Whilst also informing you on how best to treat it. I hate to break it to you, but that scum line was created by you. Scum lines form from bodily oils and organic waste people excrete when bathing in spa water. 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 spa 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 spa surface, causing a scum line to develop. Showering will not remove all organic waste, but it will help to discourage it 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 spa. This can be done with chlorine granules, but more commonly used is rapid shock or spa fusion. These products help to remove organic waste that is naturally introduced into the spa by bathers and the elements. Shock dosing weekly can prevent a scum line forming as the culprits are removed from the spa.

Check your filters

The filters are the dustbins of your spa. 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 your spa effectively. Any waste that sits in your water can develop a scum line on your spa 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 Horizon’s Spa & Pool Perfect. Rinse the cloth to remove any scum from the cloth. Repeat this process.

Why Is My Spa 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.

The main consideration is when was the spa last drained and refilled?

The BISHTA guidelines for a domestic spa are that it should be drained and refilled monthly, or at a maximum every 3 months if it is lightly used.

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

Let’s first think about a reasonably freshly filled spa and what could make it turn cloudy:-
- Lack of sanitiser
- Bather pollution
- Incorrect water balance
Either of these above three are relatively straightforward to remedy

LACK OF SANITISER (chlorine or bromine)

Cause

The sanitiser level in the water can become nonexistent at any time through lack of maintenance, regular testing or an out of date or compromised testing method, we will mainly consider test strips to constitute the method by which the majority of domestic spa are tested

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

The absence of a sanitizing agent will allow bacteria to grow in the water

Bacteria make the water go cloudy.

How To Recover

Shock dose your spa to boost sanitiser levels

Oxidise the water to remove bather wastes

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

Products We Recommend
- AquaSPArkle Spa Fusion Sachet.
- AquaSPArkle Non-Chlorine Shock
- AquaSPArkle Rapid / Granular Shock
- AquaSPArkle Sanitiser
BATHER POLLUTION

Cause

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE. If bathers are either entering the spa wearing suntan creams, body lotions, fake tan, cosmetic make up products, hair gel, massage oil or are not showering after a long day at work, a grueling bike ride or a long run then what they are introducing to the water (sweat , physical dirt and dust) will be causing the water to cloud up.

All if the above products and scenarios will quickly consume any sanitizer that there is in the spa water and allow bacteria to grow and cause the cloudy conditions.

How To Recover

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

Products We Recommend
- 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 efficacy

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 cannot be easily controlled, it will fluctuate

In the correct range the pH is 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

In simple terms the higher the pH the less %age efficiency the sanitiser that there is in your spa has

As an example: –

At pH level of 7.5, chlorine is 49% efficient. So, if you have a chlorine reading of 3.0 ppm at pH 7.5 then actually only 49% of that chlorine is active, 1.47ppm

At a pH level of 7.0, chlorine is 77% efficient. So, a chlorine reading of 3.0ppm would mean that 77% of that chlorine is active, so 2.31ppm

It is important to maintain pH levels and to not let them drift above the recommended range
- Test the water regularly
- Use a suitable test equipment
- Understand the basic spa water chemistry
Products We Recommend

To Increase Total Alkalinity Levels
- AquaSPArkle Spa TA Plus
To Adjust pH Levels
- AquaSPArkle pH Plus
- AquaSPArkle pH Minus
To Test Spa Water
- AquaSPArkle 4 Way Test Strips – (most convenient)
- Chlorine/pH PoolTester – (more accurate)
- Bromine pH Pool Tester – (more accurate)
- Digital Photometer – (very accurate , more expensive)
General Advice

Test regularly, whether you are using your spa or not, come rain, shine, snow or rain, test each 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.

Why Is The Spa Water All Foamy?
Why Has The Spa Water Gone All 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 from 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?
1. Get the foam down
2. Get the cause of the foam out of the water
3. Clean the spa
4. Clean the filter
5. Test and check before use
What products are needed to sort the problem??
1. AquaSPArkle Foamaway
2. AquaSPArkle Spa Sparkle
3. AquaSPArkle Spa Surface Cleaner
4. AquaSPArkle – either Instant Filter Cleaner for a quick fix, AquaSPArkle Spa Cartridge Cleaner or AquaSPArkle Immerse sachet to deep clean the spa filter (recommended)
5. AquaSPArkle Spa Fusion sachet, AquaSPArkle Non-Chlorine Shock plus a sanitiser. 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 and that is not completely dry available to use after such an event.

Remember

Prevention is better than cure. Try to shower before use if any of the possible causes mentioned above are likely to be introduced by bathers.

The solution to pollution is dilution.

BISHTA (British and Irish Spa and Hot Tub Association) recommendations are that in a domestic spa the water should be drained and refilled monthly or after a maximum of 3 months if it is lightly used.

Shock Dosing A Hot Tub
Shock Dose a Hot Tub – How Much To Add?

In almost every guide that you read, there will be a reference to a shock dose, be that either for commissioning a new hot tub (or one that has not been in use for a period), when refilling one, or just for weekly maintenance.

It is important to know how to do this accurately so that you don’t waste chemicals and create unnecessarily high chlorine levels.

There are a few pieces of information that are required to allow us to shock dose accurately.
1. Know the volume of water in Litres /m³
For instance, say the hot tub is 1475 lt = 1.457 m³
1. Use the correct product and know its strength:
Granular Shock = 65% (0.65)

Rapid Shock = 68% (0.68)
1. Know what chlorine level you are looking to achieve:
50 ppm for1st commissioning or re-commissioning

10ppm for refilling

Example of how to calculate the amount of Granular Shock to add to a hot tub with 1457 litres:

the calculation is:

10 = 15.38 (g / 1000 lt)
0.65

15.83g x 1.475m³ = 22.68g

22.4g of Granular Shock is required to add to 1457 litres of hot tub water to achieve 10 ppm.

When first filling that Hot Tub, this time using Rapid Shock the calculation would be:

50 = 73.52 (g / 1000 lt)
0.68

73.52g x 1.475m³ = 108.44g

If it is a Swim Spa, using Rapid Shock, with a volume of 7800 lt (7.8m³): –

50 = 73.52 (g /1000 lt or m³)
0.68

73.52g x 7.8m³ = 573.45g

KNOW HOW TO TEST FOR 50 PPM TO ENSURE THAT YOU CAN ACCURATELY MEASURE THE LEVELS AND ENSURE THAT THEY ARE MAINTAINED FOR 1 HOUR AT A pH LEVEL OF 7.0 OR AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THAT LEVEL.

DIP STRIPS ARE NOT SUITABLE