Add Hot Tub Chemicals

Hot tubs, like swimming pools, require regular maintenance. However, because of their temperature, hot tubs need to be serviced more regularly. The pH, alkalinity, water hardness, sanitation, and general cleanliness must be maintained. With proper care and attention, you can simply add chemicals in the appropriate amounts to accomplish the majority of hot tub's maintenance needs.

Steps

Adjusting the pH and Total Alkalinity of Your Water

  1. Test your water's total alkalinity.[1] When you fill up your hot tub you need to check the alkalinity of the water. You may even want to repeat this twice per week. The goal is to establish how alkaline your water is. This needs to stay between 80 and 120ppm. This will help your hot tub resist pH changes.[2]
    • Use testing strips from your local pool and hot tub maintenance store to test your water. These strips can be submerged for as little as 15 seconds and provide you an accurate reading of your water's total alkalinity. These strips will change color according to your water's alkalinity. Match that color to the label to identify your water's alkalinity level.
  2. Adjust your alkalinity accordingly. Although 60-180ppm is acceptable,[2] you want your water's alkalinity to stay between 80 and 120ppm. Too low and your water may become too acidic. Too high and your water may feel soapy. Use pH increaser to raise the alkalinity and pH decreaser to lower your alkalinity.
    • Different pH increaser and pH decreaser kits work differently. Some are liquid and others are powder. Most adjust pH and alkalinity concurrently. For this application, use one that adjusts both pH and alkalinity together. Follow the directions on the packaging carefully. The chemicals are powerful and you want all of them to go into the water. Be careful if there is high wind and you are using powder.
    • Give your water time to settle. It may take a few hours for the chemicals to disperse throughout your system. Your system should stay on during this process as normal.
  3. Test your water's pH. Although low pH means your water is acidic and high pH means your water is alkaline, be sure to adjust your water's alkalinity independently of your water's pH. Quite often, adjusting the alkalinity will bring the pH into the normal range of 7.2 to 7.6 but this may not always be the case.[3] Low pH will cause corrosion while high pH will case scale formation.
    • Use testing strips from your local pool and hot tub maintenance store to test your water. These strips can be submerged for as little as 15 seconds and provide you an accurate reading of your water's pH. These strips will change color according to your water's pH. Match that color to the label to identify your water's pH level.
  4. Adjust your water's pH. If you must adjust your pH be careful to not adversely affect your total alkalinity. If your total alkalinity is already adjusted properly, your water will already resist changes to pH.[3] Both pH increase and pH decrease will impact both pH and total alkalinity.
    • If you already have relatively high total alkalinity (e.g., close to 120ppm) try using a pH increase that is explicitly designed to increase pH but not increase alkalinity.
    • Give your water time to settle. It may take a few hours for the chemicals to disperse throughout your system. Your system should stay on during this process as normal.
    • If you are only worried about pH, you can retest your pH after half an hour.[4]
  5. Retest your water's total alkalinity and pH. After your water has settled, retest both total alkalinity and pH. Hopefully everything will be within the normal ranges. Try to stay in the 80-120ppm for total alkalinity and 7.2-7.6 pH ranges for best operation.
    • It is generally better to stay in the high end of the range.[1] This is because the consequence of high total alkalinity and high pH is scale build up which is preferred over acid corrosion. Build up you can clean off but corrosion will require repairs.

Protecting the Hot Tub From Water Impurities

  1. Measure the calcium hardness of your water when cool. Turn off your heater and let your water cool. Then test your how much calcium exists in your water (i.e., calcium hardness). Too much calcium will cause calcium deposits on your hot tub's walls and heater. Too little and your water will literally pull the calcium from the tub's walls and components.[5]
    • Use water hardness test strips[4] to determine if your water is appropriately hard. These test strips work much the same as pH and total alkalinity test strips.
  2. Add hardness increaser to low calcium water. You want your calcium level to be between 200 and 400ppm.[4] This range will keep your hot tub's internal components protected from calcium corrosion and build up. This is particularly important if your hot tub includes tile and grout which may lose their integrity as a result of calcium corrosion.
    • Be careful with using calcium booster as calcium booster will affect your pH and total alkalinity balancing products. [6]
  3. Remove hard water if too much calcium is present.[5] If you have too much calcium in your water there is only one way to get rid of it. Drain 6-12 inches of water from your hot tub or spa. This is a big change to your spa system as this could impact your total alkalinity and pH balances. Unfortunately, if you need to lower your calcium level, this is the only way to do so.
    • Don't be conservative. If your calcium levels are still too high after new water is added you will need to repeat this procedure.
  4. Add soft water to balance calcium hardness. You want to add soft water with low calcium levels to balance the calcium level. Test the water you are going to put into the hot tub before doing so. Ensure that water has low calcium. If it does not have low calcium, find another source. Fill your hot tub to the original water level.
  5. Adjust pH and total alkalinity. After you have adjusted the calcium level in your system, wait 2-3 days,[4] with the system running and warming up, before testing total alkalinity and pH. This allows the water to normalize following the increase or decrease of calcium levels. Follow the aforementioned instructions for adjusting total alkalinity and pH before testing the calcium levels.
    • This is particularly important if you drained water from the hot tub and replaced it with new water. That new water could have raised or lowered your total alkalinity or pH.
  6. Adjust the calcium hardness of your water when cool. After the total alkalinity and pH have been adjusted let your water cool down. Then measure the calcium in the water. If your water is still too hard, repeat the drain, refill, and readjusting of total alkalinity and pH. If it is too soft, add hardness booster.
    • Each time you adjust the calcium you need to wait 2-3 days before retesting[4] so try to make each adjustment as accurately as possible.

Sanitizing Your Water with Bromine

  1. Measure the bromine level of your water. Bromine can be used instead of chlorine to sanitize hot tub water. Use bromine test strips from your local hot tub and pool store to test the bromine level in your water. You want your bromine levels to stay between 4 and 6ppm. If they are dropping below that, you will need to refill your floating bromine dispenser or create a bromine reserve.
    • Bromine is similar to chlorine but is not UV resistant.[7] It breaks down faster than chlorine in the sunlight. You should keep your hot tub covered when not shocking or in use if you use a bromine sanitation system.
    • If you have not used bromine before, you will need to establish a bromine reserve.[8] Establishing the reserve will differ depending on the type of bromine you are using. Follow the directions on the container for initially adding bromine to your hot tub. This will include a round of shock treatments and may take a while. Do not enter the tub until the bromine levels are below 10ppm.[8]
  2. Open your floating bromine dispenser by unscrewing the cap on the bottom. The floating bromine dispenser will be on the surface of the water and easy to find. Pull it from the water and let it drain. Turn the container upside down. Shake the container gently to let the bromine tablets settle. Unscrew the lid.
    • Be careful not to spill the tablets or get any of the water in your eyes or on your skin. Flush your skin with fresh water to avoid any potential chemical burns from high concentration bromine contact. This is particularly true if you have recently shocked the tub as the oxidizer activates bromine ions and increases their concentration.
  3. Fill bromine dispenser with bromine tablets. You may keep the used bromine tablets in the dispenser and refill with new tablets.Once you have filled the floating dispenser with tablets, close the dispenser. You do not need to worry about filling the container too full so long as the lid goes back on properly. The water flow adjustment takes care of how much dispensing will occur.
  4. Adjust the water flow to the tablets. You may need to adjust the water flow on the dispenser. Test your bromine levels regularly until you are familiar with how much water flow is needed to maintain your bromine level of 4-6ppm.[9] When you know you have the right flow level, tighten the lock ring accordingly to keep the flow level from accidentally self-adjusting.
    • This is especially true if you increased the water flow to accommodate low bromine levels rather than refill the bromine dispenser at any time.
  5. Submerge the dispenser to eliminate air bubbles mixing with pellets. Push the dispenser, upside down, arm's length into the water just to provide more pressure on the air bubbles to escape. Air bubbles between the tablets will cause the dispenser to work less effectively. Once all the air bubble are gone, turn the dispenser upright and allow it to float on top of the water.
  6. Shock your water weekly.[9][8] Bromine dispensers require regular shocks to function properly.[10] The shocking process activates your bromine pellets. When you shock your water, bromine levels will spike as the shock treatment acts on the bromine tablets to release more bromine ions. Wait until bromine levels are below 10ppm[9] before entering the hot tub.

Shocking Your Water

  1. Completely remove the hot tub cover. Shocking your water requires proper ventilation. Your water will need air to breath. Go ahead and take the whole cover off and move it away. The chemicals and fumes can be hazardous to so its best for everyone to stay away. Let everyone know not to go into the hot tub until you sure its safe.
  2. Adjust the total alkalinity and pH of the water.[11] The total alkalinity and pH levels will have an impact on the effectiveness of the oxidizer. You don't need to worry about water hardness at this point because that takes a lot more time to deal with. Focus on total alkalinity and pH levels. They will have the most impact on the shock's effectiveness.
  3. Turn your hot tub jets off. Although the jets will mix the oxidizer with the water quickly, they should be turned off. The jets will actually cause the oxidizer to work less effectively. This happens because the oxidizer will evaporate too quickly the more air is mixed into the water. Leaving the jets off lets the oxidizer distribute naturally in the water.
  4. Measure out the appropriate amount of oxidizer.[11] Each type of oxidizer is different. You will need to consult your package on the proper use of the oxidizer. If a lot of water has evaporated, bring the level back up to its normal level before shocking. Too much shock treatment can damage your hot tub.
    • If you are measuring strong chemicals like lithium chlorine by the tablespoon, consider using a dedicated measuring container. Even if you use a tablespoon from the kitchen, make sure its a cheap one and leave it with the hot tub supplies.
  5. Disperse the oxidizer carefully. This will depend on the type of oxidizer you choose to use. Follow the directions on the box closely as the oxidizer may cause chemical burns if not handled properly. Both liquids, tablets, and powders should be placed into the water as close to the water's surface as possible. Splashing can be very harmful especially to your eyes.
    • You may want to limit your shock treatments to times when no one is around. This way your child doesn't trip you while you are measuring out chemicals causing you to spill them on the their face. This also keeps people from nagging you about when the hot tub will be ready.
  6. Wait for the oxidizer to have its intended effect. Ideally you would want to shock the tub in the evening so that you could let it sit overnight.[11] Check the total alkalinity, pH, and bromine levels before entering the tub. These can be greatly affected by shock cycle. Adjust total alkalinity and pH accordingly. Wait until bromine levels drop below 10ppm before entering.

Tips

  • Use a test strip for the proper chemicals. Many test-strip manufacturers offer strips that test the water for chlorine or bromide, pH, alkalinity, and other chemicals all on 1 test strip.
  • In addition to weekly tests, you may also want to check your chemicals after periods of heavy use.
  • If your water source contains hard water or heavy metals such as iron or copper, you can use special test strips to test for problems and use speciality products to treat them. Check with an expert at your pool supply store for more information.
  • Be careful to store your test strips properly. If you ignore the recommended storage guidelines they will likely give you inaccurate readings. This could cause you to adjust your hot tub's water in harmful ways.
  • Consider using goggles when adding chemicals to your hot tub. They will protect your eyes in the event anything (e.g., a kid's inflatable beach ball hitting your hand) causes the chemicals to splash toward your face.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.kingtechnology.com/water-care/spa-school/total-alkalinity-2/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.rhtubs.com/info/water.htm
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Adjusting-ph-W15.aspx
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 http://poolandhottub.apsp.org/Hot-Tubs/Hot-Tub-Water-Chemistry.aspx
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.kingtechnology.com/water-care/spa-school/calcium-hardness-2/
  6. ↑ http://www.rhtubs.com/store/waterhelp.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.swimuniversity.com/hot-tub-chemistry-101/
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 http://www.spadepot.com/spacyclopedia/hot-tub-sanitizer-comparison.htm
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 http://www.lesliespool.com/blog/hot-tub-care/
  10. ↑ http://www.spadepot.com/spacyclopedia/spa-shock.htm
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 http://www.valleyspadoctor.com/pages/spa-hot-tub-maintenance-tips

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