Alternative Natural Hot Tub Water Treatment

Go Green!  These days, many hot tub owners are more consiscious of the environment and also of the health side effects that strong chemicals may create.  Here are some alternative, natural water treatments being used in hot tubs today in order to reduce the amount of smelly chlorine or bromine in the water, yet still maintain a safe bathing environment.

Ozonator

The ozone generator has successfully been used for many years in spas to allow the reduction of chlorine or bromine in the water. 

Advantages of having a built-in ozonator is that it takes care of some of the water sanitizing duty, quite effectively.  The disadvantage is that the ozonator’s performance may dwindle after a few years in service and some require the replacement of a chip while other require replacement altogether. 

Relying on a defective ozonator is a sure way for poor water quality. Some ozonators offer a pilot light or other signal showing it is working.  As an add-on, this unit certainly will help with the sanitizing duty of spa water.  Buy an ozonator in Canada here at Amazon Canada.

Mineral Sticks

Mineral sticks have also been around for years and they seem to do quite a good job as a secondary source of helping to maintain hot tub water.  Nature2 appears to be the market leader in this category. This mineral cartridge for spas is EPA approved and is just set inside the filter area or cartridge following the directions on the package. Reduces harmful bacteria in hot tubs. More information and pricing: Nature2 Spa Stick Mineral Sanitizer for Portable Spas

An alternative to mineral sticks is the mineral cartridge and bromine cartridge packaged into a single Frog Floater.

Enzymes

Enzyme treatment for water has also been around for a long time, but only recently has it been put forth as a viable alternative to traditional sanitizers. 

For those communities that still require bromine or chlorine, the enzyme treatment will work alongside reduced amounts of chlorine (or bromine) to keep the water safe, thus reducing chemical odor and also is gentler on the skin.  Being able to relax in the hot tub without a pungent odor of chlorine or bromine gas is welcome, especially in these times of more ecological thinking.  See hot tub enyzmes as an alternative water treatment solution to be used along with smaller amounts of bromine and chlorine as the active sanitizer.

Salt Water Spa

Most hot tubs on the market can either be purchased as, or converted into a salt water hot tub.  The term “salt water spa” may be a bit misleading though, because the apparatus that makes this work is either a chlorine salt generator or a bromine salt generator.  You are still generating bromine or chlorine, and not purifying the spa with just salt.

Bromine salt (or chlorine salt) is added to the water to establish a reserve and then the cell within the device converts the salt into active bromine (or chlorine) to sanitize the water.  Those compounds then form a salt and the cycle continues. This is a great way to eliminate the trips to the store for bromine (or chlorine) tablets, but you still need to monitor pH and other water factors. 

Advantages of a salt water spa include convenience of having automatic sanitizing (with the occaisional manual boost). Disadvantages include the cell life (which will need to be replaced 3-5 years down the road) and the initial cost of the system (which can add $750 or more to the price of the spa for the salt water generator equipment and installation.

Hot Tub Filter Cleaner

 Keep your filters clean with a phosphate free overnight filter soak.