Water Care Academy

There is a point where correcting water costs more than replacing it, and most people go well past it. Here is how to recognize it.

Two owners can follow the same routine and get different results, and the reason is usually the tap. What each water source gives you, and what to correct.

A reading you cannot rely on is worse than no reading, because you act on it. Where to sample, how to read a strip, and when strips are not enough.

Hosing a filter is not cleaning it. A proper clean means soaking, and knowing the difference is what keeps water clear and sanitizer working.

A sharp chemical smell almost always means too little sanitizer rather than too much. Here is what each type of smell is telling you, and what to do about it.

Too high and it scales. Too low and the water pulls minerals out of the tub itself. The hot tub calcium hardness range, and why both ends matter.

Brown water in a new cedar hot tub is tannins from the wood. Harmless, and it clears in about five water changes. Do not add sanitizer yet.

Sanitizer is consumed rather than lost, so a zero reading means it has been working. Here is what uses it up, why it stops holding, and what to buy.

Hot tub pH decides whether a soak feels comfortable or leaves skin tight and eyes stinging, and it governs how well your sanitizer works.

Total alkalinity buffers pH, which is why it is corrected first. If your pH will not stay where you put it, alkalinity is almost always the reason.