Treating Calcium Hardness in Spa Water

One of the biggest water quality challenges spa owners contend within Arizona is hard water. Having hard water means that there is too much calcium in your water supply, which can lead to a buildup of scale in jets and heater elements as well as cloudy water. Acceptable hardness levels in spas can reach up to 400 ppm, a level that can be easily tested with a home test kit. When you start to exceed that level, however, mitigating action is necessary to keep the harmful effects of hard water at bay.

What do I do then?
Many new homes and developments in Arizona already come with inline water softening systems, which means that problems caused by hard water are often not noticed inside home plumbing systems. Hot tub manufacturers recommend that you do not fill your hot tub with soft water.

First, consider purchasing a dedicated pre-filter attachment that screws onto the end of your outdoor water hose. This will remove relatively large particulates like calcium and other metals before they end up in your spa. These hose pre-filters are relatively inexpensive and do a passable job of removing enough calcium to get your spa water down to acceptable levels.

If this does not work, use a calcium combining or calcium dissolving chemical treatment. Either of these chemical solutions works to either force calcium into larger particulates that can be removed by your spa’s normal filtration system, or dissolve it enough that it cannot coalesce and cause scale or cloudy water. The problem with these types of chemical treatments though is that they require frequent maintenance doses to stay effective, or require that you thoroughly clean out or replace your spa filter after each use. Using the Jacuzzi® ProClear or Sundance® SunPurity mineral packs helps stabilize calcium and pH.

If you are not having any luck with either of these options, get in touch and we would be happy to consult with you on the best way forward to tackle any hard water problems.