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Hot Tub Water Care

Taking care of a hot tub is different than caring for a swimming pool. A pool holds thousands of gallons of water in it, a spa has only 300-500 gallons. And unlike a bathtub that you drain after each use, your hot tub keeps the same water for month. Keeping your hot tub clean takes work, but once you learn the basics, most people can perform their spa maintenance in just 10-15 minutes per week. Read below for details on pH balance, alkalinity levels, chlorine and sanitizers, and oxidizers.

Spa Sanitizers - Chlorine, Bromine, Ozone

One of the most important tools in keeping your hot tub clean is using the proper amount of sanitizer. Just like in a pool, sanitizer in a spa (like chlorine) disinfects the water and kills bacteria and microbes that want to live in the water. Since your hot tub is smaller than a pool, you of course use a lower concentration of chlorine in your hot tub. Apart from chlorine, there are also a few other popular spa sanitizing chemicals and systems. Bromine is similar to chlorine but is less harsh on the skin and does not smell as strongly. In fact, the bromine tablets you can put in your spa are made of chlorine and sodium bromide. Most bromine solutions use a floating "brominator" that allows the bromine tablet to slowly dissolve into the water over time. Another popular sanitizer is ozone from an ozonator. An ozonator is a special piece of equipment inside the motor compartment of your hot tub that produces ozone (O3). Ozone is released into the spa water to oxidize and destroy bacteria and other contaminants (viruses, algae, yeast, cologne, sun tan lotion, saliva, urine, etc). Ozone is pretty short lived (it only lasts about 15 minutes before converting back to regular O2 oxygen) and cannot do all the sanitizing work in your spa, so some lighter use of bromine is still required to maintain the health of your water.

Cleaning your Hot Tub - Balancing Your Water

Hot tubs tend to accumulate everything found on people's body, from perspiration to deodorants to soaps and shampoos to body oils and other natural organic materials. Since you don't drain the tub after each use, you have to find a way to keep the water clean and to keep bacteria and other yucky stuff from growing in your warm water. To keep your hot tub water clean, you have to regularly test it, measure the levels of various chemicals, and then add additional chemicals as needed to keep your water healthy. This is called balancing your water. The first item at hand is the pH level. For those of you that have forgotten your high school chemistry, pH measures the acidity of the water by measuring the balance of positive hydrogen ions (H+). A neutral solution has a pH of 7, while lower values are considered acidic and higher values are considered basic. Your goal for your hot tub is to have the pH be in a range just above 7 -- about 7.2 - 7.8. If your water is too acidic, it can corrode your plumbing and damage seals (and your skin!). If the pH is too high, you can get alkaline scaling and build up in your tub and the plumbing equipment. So keep your water within the recommended guidelines. Total Alkalinity (TA) is the other important measure to keep an eye on. Your goal for TA is 80-120 PPM. TA measures the waters ability to resist pH changes by neutralizing acid, acting as a buffer for your spa water. If your TA is high, it is hard to change the pH of your water. This is good if you have your water at the right pH level, not so good if it is not. You can increase your TA by adding Spa Gaurd Total Alkalinity. Always add small amounts of chemicals at a time, then retest. It is tough to remove excess chemicals from your water, but easy to add a little more. You can use products like SpaGaurd PH Increaser and SpaGuard PH Decreaser.

To test your water balance in your spa, you will use little test strips that you buy from your spa supply shop. They look like little strips of plastics with colored squares glued to them. The 3 or 4 squares on them each test for different chemical conditions - alkalinity, pH, sanitizer PPM, and Calcium levels in the water. You swivel the strip around in the water 3 or 4 times, about 6 inches below the surface, then lift the strip up (do NOT shake the water off it) and compare it to the color chart on the container it came it. Match up the color on the strip to the provided color scales to get your readings for pH, TA, etc. If you find your water is not in the balanced levels, then you need to adjust your water with various chemicals.

After you keep your water clean, you need to drain and refill your water every 3-4 months. No one wants to sit in that chemical bath for too long! You also need to clean your filter monthly and replace it annually. A dirty worn-out filter leaves you with dirty worn-out water -- not something you want.

Oxidizer Shock Treatment

The third piece to keeping nice clear water in your spa is to "shock" or oxidize the water regularly. You shock your water by adding a shocker to break down any left over dead organic goodies killed by your sanitizer -- the shocker also breaks down soaps and shampoos and other materials, allowing the filter to get rid of them permanently. Consider shock treatment to be like the big garbage truck for your hot tub -- it breaks down and gets rid of any remaining junk in your hot tub. If the truck doesn't come by to get rid of this garbage, it becomes food for future bacteria and algae and viruses. So even sanitizing your water is not enough -- that kills these organic creatures, but doesn't break them down enough to eliminate them -- that is what the oxidizer shock does. You should shock your water weekly at a minimum or after each use of the tub if you use it more than 2-3 times per week. SpaGaurd Spa Shock Oxidizer and SpaGuard Enhanced Shock will do the trick.

Mention this Blog and receive $ 5.00 off a purchase of $50.00 or more in Chemicals.

Hot Tubs Currently In Stock

Kuai By Caldera Spas





Seats 3 adults
200 gallons / 757 liters
7' x 5' x 29" (213cm x 165cm x 74cm)
610 lbs dry/ 2,795 lbs filled

Shell
Cabinet



Click Here To View Online

Sundance Spas Currently In Stock

Sundance Marin

Shell – Opal
Cabinet – Mahogany
SEATS 4-5 adults
DIMENSIONS 6'3" x 7'7" x 33"
SPA VOLUME 403 US gallons (1,526 liters)
TOTAL JETS 31 (7 varieties) + 12 Air Injector Jets
Click Here to View Online


Price: Please Call 706-632-1833






Sundance Optima


SEATS: 6-7 adults
DIMENSIONS: 7'5" x 7'5" x 37.5"
SPA VOLUME: 540 US gallons (2,044 liters)
TOTAL JETS: 47 (7 varieties) + 14 Air Injector Jets
Click Here To View Online


Price: Please Call 706-632-1833




Sundance Burlington


Shell – Platinum
Cabinet – Silverwood
Deluxe Premium LED lighting
Stainless Steel Jets
SEATS: 5-6 Adults
DIMENSIONS: 6'9 x 7'2 x 37.5
SPA VOLUME: 422 US gallons
TOTAL JETS: 25 (4 varieties)
Click Here To View Online


Price: Please Call 706-632-1833





Sundance Dover


Shell – Silver Pearl
Cabinet – Mahogany
SEATS: 2-3 adults
DIMENSIONS: 5'9" X 6'10" X 30.5"
SPA VOLUME: 300 US gallons
TOTAL JETS: 22 (4 varieties)
Click Here To View Online


Price: Please Call 706-632-1833

Jacuzzi Hot Tubs Currently In Stock

Jacuzzi J460 W/Stereo


Shell – Platinum
Cabinet – Maghoney
Seats: 5 Adults
PowerPro Jets: 33
Dimensions: 89 in x 77 in x 34 in
Spa Volume: 409 US gallons
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Price: Please Call 706-745-0630








Jacuzzi – 315

Shell – Sahara
Cabinet – Sierra
Seats: 2-3 Adults
PowerPro Jets: 13
Dimensions: 76 in x 66 in x 32 in
Spa Volume: 274 US gallons
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Price: Please Call 706-745-0630





Jacuzzi J230

Shell – Sahara
Cabinet – Sierra
Seats: 5 Adults
Jets: 25
Dimensions: 84 in x 84 in x 36 in
Spa Volume: 460 US gallons
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Price: Please call 706-745-0630

SAVE MONEY - Refurbished Spas in Stock

www.spaanddeck.com

Need A Hot Tub, But Don't Want To Pay Full Price?

Many Refurbished Spa's In Stock Now

Conveniently Located In Blue Ridge and Blairsville

Mention this Blog and Receive $100 Off your purchase

All Hot Tub's Include:

In House Warranty

Delivery

Installation

Spa Cover

Spa Care Maintenance Plan

Check Back Regularly As New Refurbished Spa's Are Being Added Daily

Sundance Solo
Seats – 1
4’0” x 5’11” x 2’5”
Dry Weight - 401 lbs
Filled Weight – 1,238 lbs
Capacity – 100 US gal
Total Jets – 24
Price – $2,800
Warranty – 12 months parts- 6 months labor




Sundance Aero
Seats – 4
84” x 76” x 30”
Jets – 15
Shell – Blue Grass
Cabinet - Redwood
Dry Weight – 675 lbs
Filled Weight – 3,299 lbs
Capacity – 225 US Gal
Price – $2,850

Warranty – 12 months parts - 6 months labor



Sundance Optima
Seats – 7-8
Jets – 36
Shell – Platinum
Cabinet - Real Wood Cabinet
Stereo and CD Player
7’7”x 7’7” x 3’2”
Dry Weight – 857 lbs
Filled Weight – 4,900 lbs
Capacity – 485 US Gal
Price – $6,500
Warranty – 12 months parts - 6 months labor

Sundance Maxxus
Seats – 7-8
Jets – 47
Shell – Sierra
Cabinet – Grey Wood Cabinet
Exterior Lighting
7’8”x 9’4” x 3”4”
Dry Weight – 1,000 lbs
Filled Weight – 5,800 lbs
Capacity – 600 US Gal
Price – $7,000
Warranty – 12 months parts - 6 months labor

http://www.blairsvillechamber.com/Brochure.pdf

Blairsville Union County Has a new website!!

Spring Event OPEN TO PUBLIC

http://www.chambermaster.com/directory/jsp/events/EventPage.jsp?ccid=256&eventid=3449

Events Calendar

SPRING HOME & GARDEN AFTER HOURS EXTRAVAGANZA

Date: March 26, 2009
Time: 04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Click here to see our New Web-site

Event Description

The Blairsville-Union County

Chamber of Commerce

presents

A SPRING HOME & GARDEN

AFTER HOURS EXTRAVAGANZA

Hosted by

North GA Stone/Coosa Creek Marketing Products

This was the first “Extravaganza” to feature Chamber members specializing in "Home and Garden products and services." It was a great success with many vendors showing their businesses and services.