While we all wish we could just fill up the spa and leave it for the season, the reality is that, just like a swimming pool, your spa requires love and care so that you can maximise your enjoyment and prolong the life of your spa equipment. It’s for this reason that spa water testing is so important, particularly at the beginning of the season. That way you know exactly what to do to ensure your water is perfectly balanced for a season spent in the spa.
How to test:
Simple! All you need is some water test strips – you can find these at your local BioGuard Approved Retailer.
What you’re testing for:
pH level:
Balancing your pH is important for ensuring the spa water is comfortable for you to be in, while also preventing damage to the equipment. The pH level for your spa water should be sitting around 7.4-7.6. To maintain a stable pH, while also protecting your spa’s equipment, we recommend using our BioGuard Perfect Balance – it’s a buffering system that will help you maintain a stable pH, softens the water and inhibits corrosion.
High pH levels (above 7.6) can cause scale build-up on the equipment, dirty the filter and cause less effective sanitation. To lower pH levels, we recommend BioGuard Aquality.
Low pH levels (below 7.4) can cause corrosion to spa equipment, discomfort to the spa user and rapid dissipation of sanitiser. To raise the pH levels, we recommend BioGuard Comfort Up.
Total Alkalinity & Hardness
Total Alkalinity (TA) acts as a buffer against any rapid changes of pH levels. Maintaining appropriate Total Alkalinity levels will ensure all your spa chemicals are working efficiently, while remaining at their optimal balance. Your Total Alkalinity should be between 80-150.
If Total Alkalinity levels are too low (below 80), it can cause the pH to become unstable, leading to a whole host of problems – including corrosive scale build-up on your spa and its equipment. We recommend BioGuard Performance Up to raise Total Alkalinity and prevent corrosion to your spa equipment.
High Total Alkalinity (above 150) can cause cloudy water and scale build-up – if your Total Alkalinity is high, we recommend BioGuard Aquality, it slowly lowers pH and Total Alkalinity over time.
Calcium Hardness should remain between 175-225, so if your Calcium Harness levels are low, we recommend BioGuard Shield to bring Calcium Hardness levels back up to the recommended level. Alternatively, if your Calcium Hardness levels are too high, you can dilute the water’s hardness by adding more water.
Sanitation
Much like a pool, your spa is susceptible to bacteria and viruses that find their way into the water. Spa water provides the perfect conditions for a whole host of microorganisms that can be harmful. Luckily, water sanitisers provide the perfect solution – they can kill the nasty bacteria and viruses, and keep your spa water clean all season long. BioGuard has a great range of sanitisers available that will rid your spa of any microorganisms present in the water.
The amount of sanitiser required will change depending on how often you use the spa, how many people are using the spa and the temperature of the water. As a general rule, the higher the frequency of use, the more sanitiser required so make sure you check your sanitiser levels ever few days to maintain a safe level.
Ongoing maintenance:
Once your spa is up and running for the season, ongoing maintenance is relatively simple. Keep the water circulating each day and remove any contaminants from the waterline. Clean your filter once every two weeks to remove any debris – soak it overnight in hot water and use a cleaning solution like BioGuard Filter Renew and you’re good to go!
For more tips and tricks for maintaining your spa this season, head to our Facebook Page!
