How to Take Care of Your Hot Tub Water When It Doesn’t Look Right

Your hot tub is designed to bring you many hours of enjoyment. As an owner of a quality hot tub, you probably have already realized that there is very little maintenance needed and you truly get to enjoy it whenever you want.

On occasion, you may find that the water in the hot tub doesn't look quite right. You need to address this immediately. When you do, you will most likely find that it doesn't take much to correct the problem. A good indication that something is going wrong with the water is when it begins to look a little cloudy, milky or if it's foaming a bit.

Water that is cloudy looking:

If you look closely at the hot tub water, you may notice that it looks as if there are small particles floating in it. They are so tiny that if you don't look closely, you will not see them. There could be multiple reasons for this, such as having insoluble particles in the water, organic debris, or even the beginning of dead algae. Any of this may be present because the filtration system is not working properly for your hot tub, which means that it may simply need to be cleaned out. This also may mean that you are not keeping up with your water maintenance enough or are not using the right chemicals.

The first thing to do is check your filter. Make sure that it is clean and working properly. Then, check the water chemistry to see what the water balance is. Determine if you need to balance the PH. Once you have made any necessary corrections, you may need to shock the spa or try a water clarifier. If all of this fails, you may need to empty the spa and start over with fresh water.

Milky looking spa water:

If your spa water has taken on a white tinge, you probably are not able to see the bottom of the hot tub. Again, there is no one cause for this but most often it is because the filters are not working properly. It could also be that the hot tub has been used more than normal and you have not compensated for this by adjusting the amount of hot tub chemicals that are needed. To rectify the problem, follow the same steps as you would for cloudy water. Some people find using a non-chlorine shock product works well.

Foaming spa water:

It may look like someone has added detergent to your hot tub water and it is foaming up. This is not likely the case. What you may notice is that it looks like there is a film lying on top of the water. The most common cause of this is the residue that comes off the bodies of the individuals using the hot tub. This could be natural skin oils or cosmetics they have on their body prior to using the hot tub. The best solution for this is preventative action. Requesting that users take a shower prior to using the hot tub is not unreasonable. If you are already faced with this problem, you can check with your hot tub supplier to see which chemicals they recommend as the solution. This will usually be an enzyme or anti-foam product.

These hot tub water problems can cause some concern but are easily rectified provided you handle the problems as soon as they are noticed.