A healthy spa is a happy spa.
At Niagara Hot Tubs, we pride ourselves in providing an excellent customer experience before, during and after your hot tub installation.
You are more than just a customer for us — when you walk through our doors, you become a member of our client family.
In our efforts to help you with all of your hot tub problems, we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions to make things easy. Don’t see the answer to what you need to know? Contact us and we will be happy to help!
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I drain my hot tub?
This depends on the usage of your hot tub, but a minimum of 4-6 months is a good guideline to determine when to change the water.
If your hot tub has a drain valve, you can connect a garden hose to drain it. If not, a submersible pump will work as well.
Use this time to clean out your hot tub and filters with a specially-designed hot tub cleaning solution.
How do I clean my hot tub filters? How often should I clean them?
First, remove the filters from the hot tub and spray them down with a high pressure garden hose attachment and ensure you are getting between each pleat of the filter. Next, fill a large bucket with warm water and 250 mL of filter cleaner, allowing filters to soak for 12 hours. Remove filters and spray down again.
We recommend you have a second set of filters on hand to ensure no shut down time on your hot tub during the cleaning process, which should occur every 4 weeks.
How do I care for my hot tub cover?
During the winter months, always make sure you remove all snow and ice from your hot tub spa cover with a broom. Do not use a shovel as it could potentially rip your cover.
Always use cleaning or care products that are specifically designed for hot tub covers. These products should be applied every 3 months to prevent your cover from drying out.
On a warm, dry day, you can remove the foam inserts and let them dry out in the sun to prevent the cover from getting waterlogged.
What should I do to my hot tub if I am going away for an extended period of time?
If the hot tub will remain operational while you are away, make sure the water is balanced before leaving. If you are only going to be away for a few days, it is a good idea to have someone monitor your spa.
If you are going to be away for a long period of time in the winter, you may consider shutting down and winterizing the hot tub to prevent potential freeze damage.
How long do I have to wait to use my hot tub after adding chemicals?
After adding any type of shock or sanitize to your hot tub, you should wait a minimum of 2 hours before use to eliminate skin irritation or bleaching bathing suits.
When adding chemicals to your hot tub, always remove the cover, have jets on high circulation and wait 15-20 minutes between adding each additional product.
What causes hot tub water to go cloudy?
There are many reasons for hot tub water to go cloudy, but some of the more common reasons include:
- Dirty filters
- Low sanitizer
- High Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
- Unbalanced water
- Excessive contaminates
If none of these appear to be the issue, you should contact your local dealer for hot tub service.
What is the ideal range for water chemistry levels in a hot tub?
The range for pH is 7.2-7.6 PPM, alkalinity is 100-150 PPM, hardness is 150-250 PPM and chlorine/bromine is 2-5 PPM.
Levels may vary slightly, but these ranges indicate a good guideline. We recommend using test strips and having your water tested by your dealer on a regular basis to ensure accurate water chemistry.
How do I fix high levels of chlorine/bromine?
If your test strips are often showing high levels of chlorine/bromine, the easiest solution is to open the cover and let the spa vent, and then top up the spa with fresh water. You will then want to recheck your levels with a new test strip as other levels may now need to be adjusted. If your levels are extremely high, come to Niagara Hot Tubs and let us advise on how to lower levels before using your spa again.