Hot tub water care

Twice a week if you use it regularly, once a week if you do not. Test strips take thirty seconds. The three numbers that matter are sanitizer, pH and alkalinity, and if those three are right, almost everything else follows. Bring a water sample into the showroom and we will test it properly for you.

Fewer than the shelf suggests. A sanitizer to kill bacteria, which is usually chlorine or bromine. A pH balancer, up or down. An alkalinity increaser to keep pH stable. A shock to burn off what the sanitizer misses. That is the core. Everything else, clarifiers, foam control, scale control, is for solving a specific problem rather than routine use.

Bromine is more stable at hot tub temperatures and gentler on skin, which is why most hot tub owners end up on it. Chlorine works faster and costs less. If you have sensitive skin or the tub gets heavy use, bromine. If you want the cheapest routine and do not mind a sharper smell, chlorine. We will tell you which suits your tub and your habits.

Usually one of four things: the filter needs cleaning, the sanitizer has dropped, the pH has drifted high, or there is too much body oil and lotion in the water. Check the filter first, then test. If the water is cloudy and smells, shock it. If it is cloudy and clear-smelling, a clarifier and a filter clean usually fixes it within a day.

Soap. Detergent left in swimsuits, lotion, deodorant and hair product all foam under jets. Rinse suits in plain water rather than washing them, shower before you get in, and use a foam control product for the short term. If it keeps coming back, the water is old and needs draining.

Every three to four months for a family that uses it a few times a week. Sooner if the water will not balance no matter what you add, which means the total dissolved solids are too high and no chemical fixes that. In Muskoka, avoid draining in the coldest weeks of January and February unless you have to. Frozen plumbing is an expensive mistake.

A salt water system does not remove chlorine. It makes chlorine, from salt, using a generator cell. You still have a chlorine tub, plus a cell that needs replacing every few years at real cost. We do not sell them. Every spa we carry runs a copper and silver mineral system alongside a low dose of sanitizer instead. Less chemical, no generator to replace, and the water feels softer. Ask us about it in the showroom.

Rinse it with a hose every two weeks. Soak it in a filter cleaner every month or two, because the hose does not remove oils. Replace it every year or so, sooner if it is visibly worn. A dirty filter is the cause of more water problems than any chemical, and it is the cheapest thing to fix.

Yes, and it is the best time of year to own one. Keep it covered when not in use, keep the water at temperature rather than letting it drop and reheat, and check it every few days in a cold snap. A tub built for this climate, which is all of ours, is insulated to hold heat through February without running up the hydro bill.

Not ourselves. There are experienced technicians working across Muskoka and we will point you to them rather than pretend otherwise. What we do is water care, chemicals, filters, and picking up the phone when you are not sure what your tub is doing. If it is a chemistry problem, we can usually sort it out in a conversation. If it is a pump or heater problem, we will tell you that too.