Rash

[Guest tgger61]

I am going to buy a hot tub (spa) for the first time. My God-Daughter in the past has been to spa parties and had bad skin reactions to the chemicals in the spas. Is there a low/no chemical way to maintain the hot tub. Or is my God-Daughter just going to be a bystander.

[Guest Stanley]

Eco One treatment has coconut ingredients that help dry skin and rashed, it will also make your spa very easy to maintain. I've been using it for years with great results. My girlfriend and i love that it's 100% safe and natural... They also make a hose filter that removes chemicals and heavy metals before they get into the spa which can also cause skin problems.

There is a lot of info online , just type in "Eco One" on Google.

[Guest calvin collum]

Baqua Spa is another safe alternative to Chlorine and other methods. It is a non chlorine system which has been proven repeatedly to be one of the mildest on the market. Polymeric Baquanide is the primary ingredient in the sanitizer which is even used in some contact lense cleaning solutions to give you an idea of how mild it is. You can purchase it at any litehouse pool store.

Bored in Ohio

Calvin

[Guest Sean]

You may find that most of the reactions to hot tubs/spas is that there is not enough sanitizer in the water. Imagine all the possible germs, virus, bacteria getting into the water, then multiply that because of the warmer water. It is a breeding ground for bad reactions! This is different for pools as you have more water, so less concentration of these "undesirables" to affect you. A spa is a whole other creature!

Most of the time, when you can smell the strong chlorine odor, it is not because of too much chlorine, it is because of insufficient chlorine and a build up of the combined chlorine (or used up chlorine), and will cause reactions.

And by all means, you do not want to deal with low chlorine systems. Some of the chlorine alternatives, such as mentioned above, are options, but be mindful that these are programs that limit you to their specific products and treatments. I've heard that if you stick to their program, you should see sucesses (but then again, I've heard of expenses and failures too).

You should be able to use the tried and true chlorine, or bromine in your hot tub. Just be knowlegable with maintaining your sanitizer levels, and if using chlorine, ensuring no combined chlorine, especially before and after a party.

It's a little more difficult to maintain sufficient chlorine if it's one of those wild, "let's see how many people we can fit in the tub" parties, but for normal usage, you should be able to maintain it just fine so that your God-daughter can enjoy your investment.

Have fun,

Sean Assam

Autopilot Systems Inc.

Manufacturer of the Pool Pilot Salt chlorination system

[Guest Ken]

Try using spa magic. Just put it in and it good for 3 months and you will not get

the rushing or some of the other skin problems. Ive been using it for 9 year love it.

You don't have all the testing and adding each week or adding when you get out of the tub. go to abm-solutions.net to see their imfo. my famly love it.

[Guest Chris]

Skin rashes should not be taken lightly. The published data coming from a variety of sources shows that the overwhelming cause is a combination of "poor" maintenance & not showering before entering the spa or hot tub (especially true with the condition know as Hot Tub Lung).

Following the basics of spa & hot tub water care make all the difference.

1. Keep it sanitizer levels where they should be.

2. Maintain good water balance, pH, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness

3. Keep the spa clean. Regularly drain & clean the tub. Especially true of the waterline & top edge of the spa. That's why everyone complaining of a rash notes that it is mainly on their arms & upper torso.

4. Regularly chemically clean the filter cartridge to remove accumulating grease & oil.

5. Make sure the filter is operating 4 - 6 hours daily.

6. Test the water regularly.

7. Shower before entering the spa. Showering removes excess body oils, make up, deodorant that accumulate at the waterline & set up a nice area for bacteria to grow.

8. Our customers have had great success using products such as Spa System Flush or SpaBoss Whirlpool Rinse to clean out the plumbing lines when the spa is being drained & refilled.

9. Shock the spa or hot tub regularly to oxidize unfilterables such as body oils, make up, etc. that can render the sanitizer useless.

A little bit of work (no more than 15 to 30 minutes weekly) is all it takes & goes a long way to preventing skin rashes, odor problems & other hot water issues.