Always add chemicals to water and not water to chemical.
It is best to pre-dissolve any chemical in water in a clean container.
It is always best to add a little chemical at a time and then add more after re-testing, rather than overdosing.
When dosing chemicals only ever have the slow speed pump running. Having the pump on high speed will only disperse the chemical before it has had a chance to do its job.
It’s really important to test your water regularly. The official line is to test the water before use but like most hot tub users, once you have gotten used to the water chemistry you will test once or twice a week.
Immerse the strip in the water, remove immediately holding the strip horizontally so the water does not run off and mix up the colours.
Read after 15 seconds. The reading is accurate after this time but will keep changing colour. Different testers have different instructions, so always read the label.
It is always best to test your tub before use and vital that you carry out a test at least once or twice a week as part of your routine.
This is the main form of chemical sanitation. Bromine / Chlorine molecules in the water will attach themselves to bacteria and neutralise them.
You can run your spa with between 1 & 3ppm (parts per million) bromine although we would generally recommend between 2 & 5ppm the same for Chlorine.
If you have a floating dispenser try to maintain a minimum of two tablets in the dispenser, if you find the bromine level is too high or low, simply turn the flow rate on the dispenser down or up accordingly.
Chlorine granules can also be used but you will find that you may have to dose twice a week to keep the correct levels.
Shock treating should be carried out once a week or after heavy use. Shock treating removes bacteria from bromine molecules, increasing the level of “free” bromine in the water without adding more.
Because bromine is a slow dissolving tablet, when a number of people use your spa it may not be able to keep up with the high level of bather waste, in these cases it is advisable to shock treat your spa after use.
The same applies to chlorine tablets. When shock treating it is best to leave the cover off for around 30-60 mins to allow the off-gas to disperse.
If you can balance the water in your spa so that your Ph reading is between 7.2 and 7.6 your sanitiser will work more effectively.
If the Ph is too high, your water is too alkaline, this is not dangerous but the water can feel slimy and can lead to slight skin & eye irritation.
If the Ph is too low then your spa water is too acidic and again can lead to skin & eye irritation. If your water is not balanced, then you will need 10 times as much chlorine and 4 times as much bromine to do the same job as with balanced water!
Use Ph Plus / Soda Ash. Dissolve in water and dose around the perimeter of the spa.
Use Ph minus / Dry Acid. Dissolve in water and dose around the perimeter of the spa.
Whether increasing or decreasing use approx 3 tablespoons of chemical & re-test 24 hours later.
There is a product on the market called TA plus however, the cheapest way is to use Bi-carb of soda and dose in the centre of the spa.
Use Dry Acid /Ph minus. Dissolve in water and dose in the centre of the spa.
Many areas locally have very hard water supplies. If left untreated scale (calcium) will form on heater elements, jets and the spa surface and can cause many problems.
Dosing with Anti-scale as per the instructions will keep the calcium active in the water and allow the filters to pick it up.
Our recommendation is to dose with Anti Scale weekly.
Sometimes you may have cloudy water that when tested shows all the chemicals are balanced etc. Tiny particles that are too small for the filters to pick up can cause this.
Water clarifier binds these particles together and the filters can then remove them from the water.
I always believe that prevention is better than cure and dose my water each week with water clarifier as part of my weekly routine.
As a quick fix you can spray clarifier on the filters after cleaning and run the filter for a couple of hours and this will help restore sparkling water.
No matter how much you shower before using your spa tiny soap particles get trapped on the body and in particular shampoo is left in the hair.
This will end up in your spa water and with the agitation caused by the jets will cause foaming. There is not anything wrong with this, it just does not look nice.
This is a super simple one, it does exactly what it says on the bottle, use as directed, following the instructions included with the product.
Your filters should be rinsed every week or at least every fortnight, then every 6-8 weeks the filters should be soaked in a cleaning solution to give them a deep down clean and to remove grease etc.
After using any filter cleaner it is vital to properly rinse your filters thoroughly and when storing filters they should be kept where they can dry properly and never left damp.
Use any filter cleaner as directed.
This is only a guide to the absolute minimum required to keep your water suitable for bathing.
