You've thoroughly cleaned your spa inside and out, your filters are well taken care of, so what's the next step towards beautiful crystal clear water? The water itself, of course!
Water care is one of the most important aspects of spa maintenance, and although everyone’s maintenance experience is different, there are some general concepts that apply to everyone. Water quality affects every aspect of your spa, from the internal components to bather enjoyment, and though maintaining good water is not difficult, it does require regular attention. Being proactive before a problem begins is much easier than correcting issues later.
Establishing a regular water care routine is key to clean and clear water, and helps you avoid chemical imbalance, and damage from neglect. Excellent water quality is a matter of four main principles:
- sanitation
- filtration
- chemical balance
- regular maintenance
1) Sanitation
Sanitation is the use of sanitizer in the water. Bromine and chlorine are the two recognized sanitizers for spa use in Canada. These sanitizers are designed to kill viruses, bacteria and other organic material by breaking them down to safe levels.
2) Filtration
Cleaning your filters regularly is a simple and effective way to keep your water clean and your plumbing system working properly. While the sanitizer is busy making sure all that debris and residue can't harm you, your filter is busy getting those dead particles out of your beautiful water. If your filter becomes dirty or clogged from all those particles, it causes your pump and heater to work harder, shortening the lifespan of the parts and possibly even causing them to fail. It also has an effect on how effective your sanitizer is and the amount of sanitizer used.
3) Chemical Balance
Testing your water regularly for chemical imbalances and making the appropriate adjustments is also very important to ensure your water remains at safe and comfortable chemical levels. Adding chemical testing to your regular maintenance routine is essential for clear, clean water.
4) Regular Maintenance
With your sanitation, filtration and ensuring all chemicals remained balanced, it's can be hard to keep track of everything. Creating a maintenance routine not only makes your job simpler, it also ensure you won't miss anything - just remember the steps of your routine!
Maintenance Schedule
With average spa use (usually 2 people using the spa 2-3 times a week) your maintenance schedule should look a little something like below. If you use your spa more or less often, or with more or less people, make sure you adjust your maintenance schedule accordingly - water chemical levels can be quite different if you're using your spa every day as opposed to someone who only uses it twice a week.
| When? | What? |
| Before soaking | Do a quick test of your spa water using test strips or a water test kit to ensure chemical levels are comfortable for bathing. |
| Weekly |
|
| Monthly |
Do a chemical soak of your filters to ensure all oils, scale, debris, etc are fully cleaned from your filters (a weekly rinse isn't quite enough to remove more stubborn particles).
If you can, let the filters dry before putting them back in the spa, or rotate between two pairs of filters so one set is always clean while the other is drying. |
|
Every 2-4 months |
Fully drain your spa and give it a good clean ( see our previous blog for tips), then fill it with fresh water. This is also a good time to give your spa a once-over and make sure all equipment and plumbing appears in good working order. |
| Yearly |
Inspection time!
|
Now that you've developed your own maintenance routine, on our next blog we'll take a closer look at each chemical in your water, why they're important, and how to make sure everything stays in harmony for beautiful, crystal clean and clear water.