Does well water destroy a hot tub?

[Nitrousman]

If a tub has only had well water it for 1 to 2 years could it have done any damage? Would it cause problems with the pumps or other equipment? Thanks.

[ndabunka]

Very unlikely. Are you looking at buying someone's old tub that had well water in it?   What type of "damage" are they reporting?  Some well water has higher levels of metal in them but proper water treatment should have been used to have removed any such materials.  If there is a problem with pumps or seals, it was most likely from the owner poorly maintaining their chemical levels.

[webboy]

This depends on your well water. How hard is your water? If you are constanly fighting scale buildup do to calcium? or if you have out of wack alkalinity that could be a problem. Do you have build-up on other water useing products in the house?

[Nitrousman]

Yes the previous owner had well water and when looking at the tub last night I noticed a little bit of calcium buildup on the jets and he said he thought one of the pumps might be starting to go bad. He's filling the tub for me today so I can come over again tomorrow to see it run. I would say from talking to the owner he really doesn't know much about maintaining the tub so the chemical levels were probably a mess. But the price is right so if I need a pump it's still a good deal.

[jfish63]

The heater might be affected more than the pump.

[Brewman]

Well water per se isn't the problem, water management is.  Regardless of where the water comes from, not proactivley managing any water can potentially lead to problems.

[Nitrousman]

If it needs a pump Dynasty says they're around $500. If I buy the tub I'll be using city water and monitor the chemicals.

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Unless they use some kind of special pump you should be able to find one in the 300.00 range after market.

[webboy]

I will let big boys jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong.

I was researching soft water and spas. Most spas will tell you not to fill the spa with soft water becaue the minerals taken out of the water create a void that naturally will want to be filled. So if you fill your spa with soft water it will begin pulling minerals from your spa, be that from the heater, pump, ect. If you have spa that has a problem because water chemistry was not balanced...well you might need to replace your pump. That could be the start of it...

This is also from a guy who doesn't have a spa yet..., the key word is yet!

[Nitrousman]

Unless they use some kind of special pump you should be able to find one in the 300.00 range after market.

Yea the guy at Dynasty said I could probably find one at a pool store.

[Brewman]

I will let big boys jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong.

I was researching soft water and spas. Most spas will tell you not to fill the spa with soft water becaue the minerals taken out of the water create a void that naturally will want to be filled. So if you fill your spa with soft water it will begin pulling minerals from your spa, be that from the heater, pump, ect. If you have spa that has a problem because water chemistry was not balanced...well you might need to replace your pump. That could be the start of it...

This is also from a guy who doesn't have a spa yet..., the key word is yet!

It's all about learning to balance your water.  Regardless of the source.  My tap city water is way high in alkalinity, so I have to deal with that every refill.
 But it's right on the money for hardness.