June 29th, 2020 by Chris Chapman

Get Hot Tub Water that’s Clean and Crystal Clear

It’s a scene every hot tub owner will experience at least once. It’s a summer evening, you’ve not long since finished a tough day at work, and the baking afternoon heat has given way to a cool, refreshing twilight. Conditions are perfect for a hot tub session beneath the stars, but just before you’re about to lower yourself into the bubbling water, you notice it’s cloudy. If you’re an experienced hot tub owner, you’ll likely have some idea about what to do, but if you haven’t had your tub that long it can be quite alarming.

Below, we’ll outline the most common causes of cloudy water and what you should do to take care of it. Whether you’re a seasoned hot tub veteran or just someone who’s thinking of getting one, keep reading – you might learn something that makes your life easier!

Your pH is Too High

Getting your hot tub pH right is an important balancing act. If you don’t get it quite right and your pH is too high (alkaline), you can end up with cloudy hot tub water. The cloudiness, in this case, is made up of tiny particles of limescale that will build up faster and in greater numbers in high-pH water. Precision matters when it comes to pH, so you should make sure it stays somewhere between 7.2 – 7.8. Anything higher or lower could lead to problems down the line.

Too Many Chemicals

Hot tub chemistry can be complicated, especially if you’re new to it. Balancing water pH, alkalinity, chlorine levels, and so on can take a bit of practice, and it can mean you sometimes add more chemicals than you need to. Up to a certain point, these chemicals will just dissolve in the water and so you do have a little bit of wiggle room – you don’t have to get everything right the first time! However, if you constantly dump chemicals into your water chasing the pH level up and down, or if you shock your pool more than is needed, you can saturate your water.

Saturation occurs when water can’t dissolve any more chemicals. If you’ve ever put too much sugar into a cup of tea, only to see it pile up at the bottom of the cup, you’ll know about this! Your hot tub is exactly the same as that sugary tea, only on a much bigger scale (and you shouldn’t dunk biscuits in it). Eventually, your spa water will have too many chemicals in it and those chemicals will simply circulate around your hot tub rather than dissolving. The only solution (pun mostly unintended) is to drain your hot tub and start again with fresh water.

A Clogged Filter

Your hot tub filter does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping your water clean. It stands to reason that it needs a bit of help from time to time! All those bits of dirt will build up on the filter until it gets clogged up and stops working as well. When this happens, tiny particles of dirt, as well as bigger things like hairs and leaves, will start to circulate your hot tub, causing it to become cloudy.

You’ll need to clean up your filter every now and then to keep it running at peak performance. To do this, pick up some Filter Cartridge Cleaner and soak your filter in it overnight. This will break down all the gunky residue inside your filter, leaving it clean and letting it clear up your water again. You should do this once a month to help keep your hot tub healthy!

5L Filter Cartridge Cleaner

Pro-Kleen Hot Tub filter cleaner has been specifically designed to break down and remove dirt, grime and grease collected by your filter.

Price: £19.99

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Too Many Tiny Particles

Even if you clean your filter every month, it won’t be able to pick up everything. Some particles of dirt are just too small, and will slip through your filter. Now, these particles are very tiny, so you won’t notice them at first. However, if you use your hot tub a lot, those dead skin cells, bits of oil from your skin and hair, deodorant particles, fake tan, hair gel, makeup, and other tiny particles will wash off your body and can quickly build up. When there are enough of these particles in the water, it’ll go cloudy, and your filter won’t be able to pick any of them up.

The solution to this problem is to use some Spa Clarifier. This is known as a flocculent, which is a chemical that makes smaller particles cling together in larger clumps. This makes it much easier for your filter to pick them up, and it’ll quickly clear your hot tub up.

5L Hot Tub and Spa Clarifier

If you're looking for a cheap and easy way to achieve brilliant, sparkling water, then look no further!

Price: £24.98

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It’s important to remember that, while a Spa Clarifier is a good stop-gap between water changes, it shouldn’t replace your regular hot tub cleaning routine. You’ll still need to routinely drain and refill your tub every 3-4 months or so.