Swim spas have become more popular as urban density has increased and property values have risen. Swim spas provide a convenient alternative to full-sized swimming pools because of their size and price. They also provide flexibility that the larger pools don’t have. You can’t run a full-sized swimming pool in freezing weather. Even when it comes to swim spa maintenance, the costs and labor involved are much reduced. However, some people are intimidated by the fact that the water in a swim spa needs to be changed regularly. If you’re asking yourself, “How often should I change water in swim spas?” you might be surprised that it can be very similar to a swimming pool. To find out more about swim spa maintenance, check out this post.
Keeping Your Swim Spa Clean
To reduce the frequency with which you have to change the water in your swim spa, keeping it as clean as possible is your best option. There are a few simple tricks that can help reduce the quantity of contaminants in the water and keep your water chemistry balanced for longer.
There’s a reason why public swimming pools insist on showering before entering the pool. Removing body oils, sweat, soap residues, and other traces of impurities goes a long way to keeping your swim spa water clean. It might seem like an inconvenience at the time, but showering regularly before bathing will greatly increase the time before you need to change the water again.
Bathing suits are another way that soap and other residues get into the water and cause a chemical imbalance. Try rinsing laundered bathing suits in fresh water and air dry them before wearing them in the swim spa.
Regularly replacing the swim spa cover after use will help keep airborne dirt and debris
out of the water. It will also inhibit water evaporation which plays a role in imbalanced water chemistry.
Pay attention to the water and act upon any irregularities. If it looks cloudy, starts to smell, or feels greasy, there’s likely a problem with the water chemistry.
Creating A Maintenance Schedule
At first, the number of jobs that need to be done to keep the swim spa in good running order may appear to be overwhelming. However, many of the tasks are simply repeated regularly. By creating a maintenance schedule you’ll be able to fall into a routine and take care of the necessary jobs without having to think about them too much. After a while, you’ll fall into a rhythm that makes intuitive sense.
Weekly Jobs
You should be testing your water chemistry every week at the very least. The more people that use the swim spa, the more often the water should be tested. The results of these tests will let you know which chemicals need to be added to the water to re-establish balance.
If you want to reduce the frequency with which you have to change the water you should skim the surface and vacuum the shell at least once a week. Again, do this more often if the swim spa is being used frequently.
Monthly Jobs
You need to clean your water filters every month. Clean water filters are more effective at extracting dirt from the water and reduce demand on the water pumps. Remove the filters from their housing and spray them with a garden hose. They may also require soaking in a cleaning solution to get rid of grease buildups. Inspect the filters for wear and damage before placing them back in their housings.
Quarterly Jobs
If the swim spa is getting a lot of use or you’ve had problems keeping the water properly balanced, you may have to change the water every three or four months. Judicious cleaning and maintenance may be able to extend this to over six months. Use this time to give the shell a good scrub and replace the water filters if necessary.
Now that you have a better understanding of how often you should change the swim spa water, download a free buyer’s guide for more information.