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Whether the cloudy water just appeared overnight or it’s a chronic, ongoing problem, tackling the root cause is the first step. And once you know why it’s cloudy, clearing it up is relatively quick and straight forward.
Creators & Guests
What is Hot Tubs 101?
A podcast for hot tub owners covering hot tub maintenance and water chemistry.
Hey, everyone, and welcome to hot tubs 101 by Swim University, where we help you keep your hot tub clean and clear all year. My name is Matt, and I'm the founder of swimuniversitydot com. And on this episode, we're talking about how to clear up hot tub water in 1 hour. Let's dive in. Real quick.
Matt Giovanisci:If you want more help taking care of your hot tub, be sure to grab our free hot tub cheat sheet at swimu.com/spa sheet. If your hot tub water's cloudy, it means you've got one of 2 problems. One, your water chemistry is off, like your pH or your chlorine levels, or 2, you've got a larger filtration issue, like biofilm buildup inside your pipes or a dirty filter system. So whether the water just appeared cloudy overnight or it's a chronic ongoing problem, tackling the root cause is the first step. And once you know why it's cloudy, clearing it up is relatively quick and straightforward.
Matt Giovanisci:Okay. So let's go over how to solve these 2 common cloudy water problems. If you already know why your water is cloudy, like maybe you just had a lot of people in your hot tub or you know that your chlorine is low, you can just skip ahead. If you if you're not sure why your water is cloudy, here are the 2 root causes on how to fix them, before trying to clear things up. So number 1 is poor water chemistry.
Matt Giovanisci:So So if you use your hot tub a lot, your sanitizer, your chlorine or your bromine, might not be able to keep up with the contaminants. The more you use your spa, the more body oil, shampoo, and even dead skin cells build up in your water. So if you notice cloudy water after using your hot tub a lot, your chlorine or bromine levels might be low. Another cause of cloudy water are high pH and high alkalinity levels. When these levels are high, it can cause a white film or scale to form on your hot tub surfaces and inside your plumbing, and that can cause cloudy water.
Matt Giovanisci:Finally, you might have high metal or mineral levels in your water. Filling your hot tub with tap water that contain metals like copper and iron can stain your surfaces and cause cloudy water. High calcium levels from your hard water can also cause cloudiness. The solution to all of this is to test your levels once a week with test strips or a liquid test kit. And sometimes, just rebalancing your water chemistry can clear out the cloudiness.
Matt Giovanisci:So if you suspect that you have metals in your water, then you may need to bring a sample into your pool or spa dealer and have them, test for it and use a metal remover in your water or a hose filter whenever you fill up your hot tub. So number 2 is filtration issues. So contaminants like sweat, body oils, bacteria, that can all build up over time inside your hot tub plumbing. And after several months, it starts to film a protective layer that's called biofilm. Unfortunately, that biofilm is completely resistant to all of your normal chemicals like, chlorine, bromine, and even shock.
Matt Giovanisci:So every time water passes through your plumbing, that biofilm circulates back into your hot tub and causes the cloudy water. There the only way to remove biofilm in your pipes is with a hot tub line flush cleaner. So every 3 to 4 months when you plan to purge your pipes and drain your hot tub and refill it with flat fresh water. That's what we recommend. The other common issue is a dirty or damaged filter.
Matt Giovanisci:If your filter isn't working properly, cloudy water particles will pass right through it and circulate back into your hot tub. So you need to clean your filter regularly by spraying it down with a hose or a filter cleaner. And you wanna make sure that the filter cleaner is properly installed in the filter well. Okay. So now that we've covered the root issues, here's how to clear up cloudy hot tub water in just 1 hour.
Matt Giovanisci:First, you wanna clean your filter. Remove your cartridge and rinse it with the hose and spray it with that filter cleaner. If you haven't cleaned your filter in a while, you may wanna soak the cartridge overnight in a filter cleaning solution. Now, both of these filter cleaners, you can pick up, from your local supply store or online. Number 2 is you wanna test and balance your alkalinity, your pH, and your sanitizer.
Matt Giovanisci:So you wanna start by testing and balancing your total alkalinity first because this is gonna help stabilize your pH. Then you're gonna adjust your pH by adding pH increaser or decreaser to your water if you need to. And then finally, you're gonna add your chlorine or bromine accordingly. And when you add your hot tub chemicals, make sure the air valves are off and the jets are on low, the cover is off, and the hot tub is running. I mean, if the jets are on low, means your hot tub's running.
Matt Giovanisci:And wait at least 20 minutes before retesting and adding more chemicals. So, alright. The third thing you wanna do is add chlorine shock. A highly concentrated dose of chlorine will kill any lingering contaminants that are causing cloudy water. And chlorine shock can be used in both a chlorine and a bromine hot tub.
Matt Giovanisci:You just never wanna mix bromine and chlorine probably not powerful enough to clear up cloudy water, but it's still a great shock for weekly maintenance. And then finally, you wanna keep your filter running 247. So let your filter run for at least one day to remove any lingering contaminants, meaning your hot tub. Let that run 24 hours. And then make sure that your water is circulating regularly throughout the week.
Matt Giovanisci:So you have to go walk by it and turn it on to kick it on, do that. Or if you can, schedule it or program it to to run, do that as well. So if these steps don't clear up the water in an hour, you can add a water clarifier to help speed things up. This chemical clumps together tiny little particles in your water, making it easier for your filter to remove them. But it won't solve any underlying issues, so don't skip out on cleaning your filter, balancing your water, and shocking your hot tub.
Matt Giovanisci:Now once your water is clear, here's how to prevent cloudy water from coming back. Number 1 is you wanna always fill your hot tub with filtered water, not bottled water. I've heard people say, what do you mean filtered water? Now you wanna use a hose filter whenever you're adding water to your hot tub. This will help remove metals and minerals.
Matt Giovanisci:Number 2 is you wanna test and balance your water chemistry weekly. Make sure that your alkalinity, your pH, and your chlorine or bromine are within range and adjust your levels as necessary. Number 3 is you wanna shock your water weekly. Adding a non chlorine shock to your hot tub after each use or at least once a week can help keep your sanitizer active and working. But if you're noticing larger issues like slime or algae, use a chlorine shock, and a chlorine shock will work in both a chlorine hot tub and a bromine hot tub.
Matt Giovanisci:Number 4, your you wanna keep your filter clean and you wanna keep it running. Rinse your filter with a hose once a week or with a filter cleaner spray every month. And I would soak it in a filter cleaning solution every few months or every single time you drain and clean your hot tub. And make sure that your filter is running regularly. Whether you run it manually or you have to program it, just make sure that your hot tub is doing enough, circulation so that it can clear contaminants.
Matt Giovanisci:Then finally, number 5 is you wanna use a hot tub plumbing cleaner every 3 to 4 months. Plan on flushing out your hot tub's plumbing every quarter and changing out your water. This will help prevent that biofilm from building up inside your pipes. So that's it. Remember, if you need more help with hot tub maintenance, grab our free hot tub cheat sheet at swimu.com/spasheet.
Matt Giovanisci:And if you found this episode helpful, subscribe for more hot tub maintenance tips on your favorite podcasting app. And when you do, please leave us a review because your support will help more hot tub owners just like you find this show. That's it. Thanks again, and happy soaking.