March 4th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

Revitalising your spa after winter ‘hibernation’

After what has been a really quite difficult winter for many in lockdown, signs of spring arriving are giving us all fresh hope and optimism and one of the greatest pleasures, if you are lucky enough to own one, is a hot tub in the garden.

Depending on how hardy you are, you may be itching to get into the bubbles right now, but even if your debut soaking for this year is still a few weeks, and a few degrees warmer away, you can still get your spa ready now.

Eradicating any winter ‘hibernation’ nastiness is really the order of the day as failing to give it the clean it requires could lead to infections and even diseases such as Legionnaire’s Disease, which can be very serious. Luckily, it’s not that difficult – it’s just a case of draining → filling → purging → draining → cleaning → filling → treating → enjoying!

This process may seem a little repetitive but remember, this is your big spring clean and will set your hot tub up for a season of enjoyment. None of it is complicated, it’s just a case of following the steps.

How to get your hot tub spring-ready

If you are starting with a hot tub that has spent the winter full of water, firstly assess the quality of that water. If it is hazy but has no visible scum or algae, you can use this water to conduct the purging process. If it has a scummy surface, you’ll need to drain it and fill it with fresh water.

If you emptied the water at the end of the summer, you can obviously skip straight to the next step.

Tip: before you start emptying, just check that the filtration system and pump are operational by running the unit. Also, take a look at the filters to see whether they can be cleaned or need replacing.

Cleaning the water

Running a cleaning chemical through the whole system is known as purging. Its purpose is to flush out any bacteria, scum, and general muck that may have built up in the lines and pipes. You’d be surprised at just how much can appear even when you’re not using your hot tub. Use a system flush chemical such as this one. Simply apply to the water and run the system for 15 to 30 minutes.

Cleenly Hot Tub System Flush Cleaner 5L

Price: £16.96

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Drain the dirty water

The water may now appear brown in colour due to all the contaminants that have been flushed from the lines plus it’s full of cleaning chemical, so you will need to discard this. Allow the water to drain away.

Give it a good clean

Give the whole of the, now empty, hot tub a really good surface clean. Ideally use a hot tub surface cleaner for this which has the anti-bacterial properties that you need but won’t damage any of your surfaces. Don’t forget to give the cover a good once-over, both inside and out, as this can be a key location for bacteria development.

Cleenly Hot Tub Surface Cleaner 5L

Price: £17.06

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Refill with fresh water

Now the unit is lovely and clean, you can refill it with the water that you will ultimately be using. Conduct all your usual checks and treatments including balancing TA and pH levels and applying sanitiser.

Did you know?: Standard sanitising treatment will kill all viruses, including coronavirus, so as long as you are following the usual guidelines, you don’t need to worry about your hot tub being high risk for covid-19.

There, that wasn’t too difficult, was it? If you still don’t plan to use the hot tub for a few weeks, it will be fine to close up and leave it like this. Just make sure the cover is on correctly and test the water again so you can make any adjustments needed to balance it once you’re ready to use it.