If you live in a hard-water area, you might not have any choice but to use hard water. Fortunately, there are ways to treat high calcium levels, which make it safe for both you and your hot tub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What should the water hardness be in a hot tub?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Calcium hardness is a measure of how much calcium (lime) is dissolved in water. Hard water contains high levels of calcium, as well as other minerals such as magnesium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you total up the combined level of calcium and magnesium dissolved in water, you get a reading of water’s total<\/em> hardness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When balancing your water chemistry, only the calcium component is important. Because the magnesium levels aren’t important, it’s perfectly fine to follow guidelines for both calcium hardness or total hardness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calcium hardness and total hardness is measure in parts per million (ppm). The total hardness of hot tub water should be between 175 and 250 ppm.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although it’s safe to allow the total hardness to reach 400 ppm, it’s better to err on the side of caution, not allowing it to get so high. That way, you have some breathing room should the levels rise without you realizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When calcium levels get too high, it causes all sorts of problems that affect both you and your hot tub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you live in a hard-water area, you’ll be used to scaling. You’ll have noticed it on sinks, faucets, showerheads, and inside kettles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kettles are particularly bad because hot water exacerbates scaling. As the temperature increases, the calcium is no longer able to stay dissolved, resulting in unsightly, white flakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the water inside your hot tub is so warm, it has the same effect as inside your kettle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Left untreated for long enough, the scale builds up to the point where the pump and heater can no longer operate properly, causing them to fail prematurely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the problems don’t just stop there. Here are some other issues caused by high levels of calcium:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most alarming issue on the list is that high calcium hardness prevents sanitizing chemicals from working effectively because they’re not able to dissolve and disperse properly in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the chemicals aren’t able to sanitize your spa, it increases your chances of being exposed to nasty bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease, E. coli, and hot tub folliculitis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your hot tub is fitted with a saltwater system, then maintaining the correct calcium hardness is even more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason for this being that it stabilizes pH levels and helps your cell or cartridge last for longer. For salt systems, the calcium<\/em> hardness should be between 25 to 75 ppm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, lowering the calcium hardness in a hot tub is a lot more work than raising it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But one thing you can do to immediately lower the calcium levels is to buy this pre-filter<\/strong> Pre-filters are a good idea for most homeowners, but particularly those like me that live in a hard-water area. They work by filtering out calcium and other damaging minerals from the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pre-filters are inexpensive and last about a year (or 3 full fills). The filtration protects my spa’s expensive components and even saves me money on chemicals by needing to use less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid damage to your spa and the surrounding areas, a calcium hardness test should be performed at least once per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those living in areas with particularly hard water, it’s better to test using a calcium liquid drop-count kit<\/strong> Test strips<\/strong> The colored blocks on test strips indicate total hardness readings of 0, 100, 250, and 1000 ppm. Drop test kits are accurate to within 10 ppm, enabling you to make precise adjustments to the calcium hardness to ensure the water is within the safe range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if you were faced with having to decrease the calcium hardness from 280 ppm to 200 ppm, a test strip would be useless. A drop test is the only way to decrease the calcium hardness precisely by 80 ppm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few different methods you can use to reduce the calcium hardness in your hot tub’s water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oftentimes, the easiest way to deal with high water hardness is to perform either a partial or full water drain. Given the amount of effort needed, it’s usually easier to perform a full drain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A full drain is also preferred as you can clean out the hot tub shell and filters, which have been affected by the excess calcium levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have the water hardness at the correct levels, it’s fine to perform weekly tests using test strips. But make sure to use the water drop-count test kit once a month to get an accurate reading that enables you to make precise adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the water in your home is softened by a filtration system, it might be a good idea to partially fill the hot tub with the softened water after performing a full drain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Begin by filling your spa using hard water from the outside faucet, and top up with soft water. Never fill your entire hot tub with soft water<\/a> as the low calcium hardness levels will cause a whole lot of damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An extra bonus for those with filtered water is that the water should be soft enough for you to be able to perform a partial drain of your spa when the water hardness becomes too high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performing a full drain takes quite a bit of effort and time. Another way to deal with the issue of excess calcium is to use something known as a flocculant or floc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flocculants bind the calcium and other debris together into large clumps, which then sink to the bottom of the tub, enabling you to remove them with a cordless spa vacuumWhat happens if water is too hard in a hot tub?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a> on Amazon that attaches directly to your hose.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do you treat hard water in a hot tub?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a> as they provide a more precise reading of the calcium content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a> are fine for people whose water is neither extremely hard nor soft, but they lack the precision necessary to make small adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to lower water hardness in your hot tub<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Drain and refill<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to drain your hot tub:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>. Never drain into a storm drain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n2. Use a flocculant or water clarifier<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n