When do I change water in my swim spa?

When it comes to draining your Above Ground Pool Company swim spa or hot tub, you don’t want to do it too often (or else you are wasting water), but you don’t want to not do it often enough (or else you’ll increase the risk of bacteria and mineral build up in your hot tub). The majority of people change their hot tub water anywhere between two to four months. This is the time frame where salt from sweat and other debris start to make the hot tub water appear cloudy. Although this is why we administer sanitizers into the hot tub or swim spas water, they only last so long before you need to add more and the build up in the water just keeps growing with each time the hot tub is used. For this reason, it is important to change the hot tubs water every two to four months. It is in your best interest to continue your regular maintenance of the hot tub water chemical balancing and sanitizers so you don’t have to drain the water as much, but how do you know what it is the right time to drain the hot tub or swim spa ? You can use Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) test strips to check the quality of your water. If your test strip reads 1500 PPM or over, then it is time to drain your hot tub. Please feel free to bring in a water sample to The Above Ground Pool & Spa Company, San Antonio, Tx. for a free water analysis.
If you don’t want to purchase testing strips when you buy your hot tub or swim spa, there is another method for estimating when to drain your Above Ground Pool Company swim spa or hot tubs water. First you’ll need to know the gallons of water in your hot tub or swim spa and your estimated bather load (average number of people using your spa per day).
Then just follow the simple steps below:
1.Divide the number of gallons by 3
2.Divide this number by the bather load
3.This total will equal the projected number of days between your water changes
However, this is just an equation for estimating. It will give you a good ballpark number of days for when you should change the swim spa or hot tubs water, but most importantly, trust your nose (if the water smells bad) and your eyes (if the water is unusually cloudy) for determining when it is time to change your hot tubs water.
Plus, remember, when draining your water, this is the perfect time for you to rinse out your filter as well. And another side note worth mentioning is that it may be beneficial to flush your plumbing right before you drain your hot tub . It’s easy to forget that while your swim spa or hot tubs water may look sanitized, the water in the plumbing system could be building up oils and minerals. So by flushing this out of the plumbing system and then draining the water of the hot tub immediately after, you’ll a very clean, ready to use hot tub waiting for you to enjoy.