As a hot tub owner, you should be aware how important regular cleaning and proper sanitising is to maintain proper hygiene. Sanitising your hot tub on a regular basis eliminates bacteria and ensures a clean and safe environment for bathing. One of the best ways to achieve this is to shock treat your tub. Shock treatment basically means raising the sanitiser levels in your hot tub to around 10ppm and maintaining it at that level for a minimum of 12 hours, this will eliminate bacteria and contaminates.
Why sanitise your hot tub or spa?
Hot water is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria especially when we regularly add bacteria caused by sweat, dead skin cells, body moisturiser, deodorant spray etc. It is therefore essential to maintain a residual level of active sanitiser such as chlorine or bromine in your hot tub water.
Sanitising your hot tub or spa removes bacteria and grime caused by sweat, dead skin cells, body moisturiser, deodorant spray, and similar. For best results, clean your tub on a regular basis, ideally every week.
Chlorine shock vs non-chlorine shock
The two main approaches you can use to treat your tub are chlorine shock and non-chlorine shock. Chlorine shock involves the use of chlorine solution, similarly to how swimming pools are treated. It is a potent formula with a strong odour.
The key drawback of chlorine shock treatment is that you have to wait until the chlorine levels return to normal before you can use your tub. If you want to use your tub right away, you need to use another method like non-chlorine shock.
Key benefits of non-chlorine shock
Non-chlorine shock, otherwise known as oxidiser treatment or potassium peroxymonosulfate, does not increase chlorine levels like the chlorine shock method. This means you can enjoy your hot tub around 30 minutes after treatment.
Non-chlorine shock uses an oxidising agent to kill bacteria and other contaminants in your tub. It works differently to chlorine shock in that the oxidation process breaks down any contaminants. Chlorine shock, on the other hand, kills them immediately.
Another benefit of non-chlorine shock is that the solution is completely odourless. If like many people, you find the smell of chlorine too overpowering, non-chlorine shock can be beneficial. It is also reliable at quickly treating cloudy water – a common complaint of many hot tub and spa owners.
Shock treating your hot tub
The simplest and most common shock treatment for hot tubs is Stabilised Chlorine Granules. There is no recipe of how much Chlorine to add as it depends on the condition of the water before starting the treatment.
If the water is well maintained and has a Free Chlorine reading of say 5 ppm then it will only take a few teaspoonful’s to raise the level to 10 ppm, if however the water is in poor condition then it may take quite a few extra teaspoonful’s to first deal with the bacteria that has accumulated in the water.
The only way to know if you have a proper shock treatment is to test the water for Free Chlorine (FCL) This should read 10 ppm after a shock treatment and then it is important to test the water again in a few hours to make sure the FCL level stays at 10 ppm and remains there for at least 12 hours. After 12 hours it is then important to allow the FCL level to drop back to 5 ppm before using the hot tub again.
** ppm (parts per million)
Non Chlorine Shock Treatment
The other approach you can use to shock treat your hot tub is to use Non-Chlorine Shock (Monopersulphate). With Non-Chlorine shock it is possible to use the hot tub again within 30 minutes of the shock treatment.
Non-chlorine shock uses an oxidising agent to deal with bacteria and other contaminants in your hot tub. It works differently to chlorine shock in that the oxidation process breaks down any contaminants. Chlorine shock, on the other hand, kills them immediately and is therefore the most effective.
Visit Aquasun for a wide range of hot tubs and spas
Visit Aquasun for a wide range of chemicals and maintenance products for your hot tub.
At Aquasun, we supply a wide range of luxury hot tubs, swim spas and saunas for your home. Our range includes models suitable for different uses and budget requirements. We have great experience in the industry and can arrange a test soak at our showroom.
