Whether your time from the hot tub is therapeutic or recreational, having your own health club is a luxury you may get used to. Homeowners sometimes shy away from buying a hot tub, however, fearing that its upkeep isn’t going to be easy. Luckily, establishing a new hot tub and maintaining the right balance of chemicals in the water doesn’t require a science degree. Most tubs require only weekly care once established, and can add both value and enjoyment to your home. Spa test kits make this care easier by providing all you need to measure and understand the substance and alkalinity amounts of your spa’s water, making it easy to determine any adjustments you want to make.
Fill the spa with water and boost the water temperature until it reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Insert an enzyme-based water clarifier to the water together with 2 ounces of stain and scale control substances each 500 gallons of water.
Assess the water’s total alkalinity before quantifying or adjusting your pH levels; include alkalinity increasing or decreasing substances, as required, to achieve an alkalinity between 100 and 150 ppm. Add 1 oz of alkaline adjusting chemicals at one time and allow the water to cycle for 30 minutes before retesting. Notice that whole alkalinity and pH aren’t exactly the exact same thing, although they are associated. If your spa’s total alkalinity readings are from the acceptable range it will be rather difficult to control the tub’s pH levels.
Test the pH level of the water with the pH test strips as part of your spa water test kit. The desired pH is between 7.2 and 8.2. If your pH falls outside this range, add a pH increasing or diminishing chemical half an ounce at a time, again waiting 30 minutes before examining the pH level again.
Choose a chlorine or bromine water sanitizer and add it to the health club. Add liquid or chlorine bromine directly to the water, or place bromine pills to the floating dispenser system. Wait 30 minutes and then test the water, adding additional bromine or chlorine one-half ounce at a time until the amount of free bromine and chlorine from the water is between 3 and 5 ppm. Whatever sanitizer you choose, follow its inclusion to the hot tub with a potassium monopersulfate health club shock treatment.
Test the spa water once a week to determine pH and alkalinity, and adapt them as required. Examine the amount of sanitizer in the water also, and adapt as required to maintain 3 to 5 ppm of free bromine or chlorine. If you don’t have an ozonator on your hot tub, you might have to put in a bit of stain and scale control to the water every week also. Add 2 ounces of water clarifier in case your spa water is muddy.