It is the end of a hard day. The days are getting shorter and colder, but that just makes it seem like there is more to do. It will all feel worth while once you get home and take a nice long soak in your spa.
So you pour yourself a cold glass of wine, dash out to the tub to turn on the pumps, then come back into the house and wrap up in a towel. You know how chilly it is, but the contrast between the chilled wine and the hot water is going be so relaxing.
Until you open the cover of the tub, and then you see it; a gray foamy mass of YUCK, floating and swirling in the middle of the tub.
It is probably the most disgusting thing that you have ever seen in your hot tub. What you are seeing is a result of your hot tub filter failing. It is quite likely that there are other problems with your water chemistry as well, but the biggest problem is the filter.
Keeping track of the water chemistry is an important part of keeping the water in your spa healthy, and there are a lot of things that can attack the water. The hot tub is a moist environment that is kept at a near ideal temperature for all sorts of nasty things to begin growing.
Whatever water treatment program you choose will keep the nasty things from growing and taking over the tub, but it can’t keep out the dirtiest thing that goes into your hot tub- you!
It is hard to believe that your body, or those of your family and friends, could be covered with anything as disgusting as the YUCK you found floating on the top of the tub. After all, you probably insist that everyone who uses the spa, (including, or especially your kid’s friends) take a shower before they get in the tub. However, the soap used in the shower does not completely rinse away, nor will it wash away all of the ointments and lotions that you use.
Soaking in the hot tub allows time for all those contaminants to dissolve, along with some of the naturally occurring oils in your skin. These will have no where to go but the water in the tub. This is not a bad thing, because all that gunk in the water is going to go through the spa’s filter, where it will be trapped until the filter becomes over loaded.
The filter is very good at holding all that disgusting stuff, but eventually it can become overloaded. When this happens the result is that floating, foamy, disgusting mass.
© Copyright The prevention is to keep your filters as clean as you can, and to keep the water flowing through it. Buying new filters can get expensive, but most filters can be cleaned.
It is a good idea to have at least two filters for your spa. When you remove one for cleaning, simply put the other in the system. The filter that you just took out should be rinsed using a garden hose. Every two weeks should be sufficient, and every two months give the filter a good wash.
There are easy to use commercial cleaning compounds available. Simply soak the filter in a bucket of the solution overnight, and let it dry completely so that any remaining microorganisms are killed.
For more detailed instructions on caring for your spa, contact the experts at Black Pine Spas and Billiards.
