Hot Tub Buying Guide

Reduce hardness of your water

Do you have hard water? Hard water is water that contains higher amounts of minerals such as calcium and magnesium. If the water in your tub is hard you may have trouble with scale forming on the surfaces and the plumbing of the tub. You may also experience cloudy water if your water is high in calcium and minerals. If you have hard water, you may have a water softener that treats your household water. You need to be careful with water that is too soft as well. If water does not have enough minerals in it, it will leech those minerals from wherever it can including the tub's plumbing and other equipments. You may also experience a problem with foam if the water is too soft. As you can see, a good balance in your water is necessary to have healthy, safe water in your tub. Keeping your tub maintained is essential. It is important to test the water for total calcium which measures the hardness. Check with your manufacturer's guidelines to see what they recommend for your tub. Your local dealer will also be helpful with what the local water is like if you are new to the area or new to owning and maintaining a hot tub.

If you do determine that your total calcium levels are too high, you will want to lower those to the appropriate range. A test kit is available at your local spa dealer or your local home improvement store. This is also a great place to purchase the chemicals you will need to treat your tub water. Once you have tested the water and confirmed that your water is indeed hard., you need to lower the pH and total alkinity levels. There isn't a way to lower calcium hardness directly unless you change your water source. Add a pH down product and wait a few hours before testing the water again. If you test too soon, you will not get accurate results and will likely add more or less of the wrong thing yo-yoing your results and water all over the place. So just wait, test and adjust your water accordingly.

If you continue to struggle with hard water and the problems associated, you may want to see if you can add water from a different source or install a water softener to your home. Keep up with your tub's maintenance regularly to get the most from your hot tub.