We have just bought a small spa pool, and would like to know the affects and side affects of all the chemicals we were given with it, are they really necessary. Our water has no chlorine.
H2 OK
Filter Cleaner
PH Decrease
PH Buffer
O2 Shock
PH Increase
SunPurity Mineral Spa Sanitizer.
So what I would like to know is: What do these chemicals do, are they really necessary, what are the side effects etc..
Thankyou

          

I have been using Clorox in my spa lately and it seems to give me a good pH and Chlorine ion reading. Are there any disadvantages to using Clorox instead of the more expensive Spa chemicals?

          

The term “Medical Spa” is relatively new. It is what it sounds like, a luxury spa like setting where one can get plastic surgery or nonsurgical cosmetic procedures done. Even though medical spas are very popular worldwide, few people are aware of this latest treatment option. If you are among the those who are unaware medical Spas and what they entail, here is a quick explanation of what a Medial Spa actually is. You may be aware of the common “day Spa”. Medical Spa is nothing but the combination of medical treatment and day Spa. The treatments done in a Medical spa are usually done under the supervision of a doctor. So actually, a medical spa can also be referred to as a medical day spa. Safe Medical SpasIt is a well known fact that some skincare techniques may cause side-effects in some people. For this reason, it is risky to get treatment if you are not aware of your allergies. This risk of side effects is entirely eliminated in the Medical Spa. All procedures at the the medical spa are be performed either by a doctor, or under the supervision of one. You don’t have to worry about the side effects, and can be totally confidant that the procedure you get is the right one for you. The best skin treatmentUnlike ordinary day spas, medical spas offer unique skincare options. For example, the Botox skin treatment provided in these Medical Spas are the best solutions for skin wrinkle lifting. There are other chemical peals and skin treatments that can clear up age spots and brighten your complexion . These unique skincare option is only available in the Medical Day spas. Along with these nonsurgical treatments, cosmetic surgery is also commonly offered at many medical spas.The Laser Hair removalLaser hair removal done in the medical day spas have gained great popularity as they are excellent alternatives for the time consuming waxing or shaving. The Laser hair removal process is very simple and removes unwanted hair from your body without any pain.However, as this hair treatment involves complicated medical Laser technology, it needs close supervision of a certified doctor. Hence this Laser hair removal is only available in the Medical Spas. The Laser hair removal process is a very quick process which saves much of you precious time spent in waxing and shaving. The health care options at a Medical Spa are unlimited. From removing birth marks and stretch marks to complicated hair fall defense treatments, all are done under strict medical supervision. With the common day spa combined with medical supervision, Medical Spas are the best places in this planet to get the safe skincare.

          

hi, i want to go on a spa break, i would like some suggestions on where to go that offer chemical peels.
thanks

          

I use bromine instead of chlorine to treat our hot tub. The bromine balance is right, but the test strips show the chlorine increasing (now at 10ppm). Should I just ignor the chlorine reading (since I never add chlorine)? If not, then what should I do and why is the chlorine increasing?

          

After a hard day’s work, nothing can relax you like a dip into a hot tub, pool or spa. The great thing about a hot, tub pool or spa is that they don’t just make your home more enjoyable, they also make it more marketable.It’s a fact that adding a hot tub, pool or spa can add value to your home in the event that you ever wish to sell it. However, making sure you choose the right hot tub, pool or spa and the right people to install them is important to keep a money maker from turning into a money pit.According to the National Association of Realtors, in-ground pools can add up to 11 percent to the value of a home. For this value, there is a price. Pools cost money to maintain, in water and power bills and in chemical treatments. If you contract a pool service to treat and vacuum your pool, it will cost you between $1,500 and $2,000 a year. For swimming pool owners in cold climes, heating a pool for just one season can increase your heating bills by $500.Before purchasing a pool, make sure you learn about all the costs involved and how to properly maintain the pool. With a little do-it-yourself work, you can greatly reduce the cost of upkeep, thus preventing you from getting underwater on your aquatic investment.There’s often a lot of confusion about the difference between a hot tub and a spa, so here’s a hard and fast definition. Hot tubs are made of wood, and usually also have a liner on the inside. Hot tubs have jets, just like a spa, but don’t have the contoured seating which spas offer. Spas are constructed of fiberglass or acrylic and generally last longer than a hot tub.The average hot tub or spa costs about $5,000 to install. How much they increase your home value depends on a number of factors, including where you live. In the South, hot tubs and spas aren’t as sought after as they are in the Pacific Northwest, or other chilly climes where evenings are cool even in the summer.When purchasing a hot tub or spa, you should ask a few questions before making your choice, such as: Will my floor support the hot tub or spa? What kind of heating and filtration system does it have? How energy efficient is the hot tub or spa? Is it easy to clean and maintain? What sort of warranty is being offered by the dealer?A hot tub, pool or spa can be a great investment and also make your house a fun place for parties and social events. Making the right choices and taking the right steps in the early stages of installation can keep these luxuries from becoming liabilities.

          

My ph is low and I want to add something quick. i found a chart that baking soda is 8.5. Would it be safe to put in the RUBBER lined hot tub?

          

I don’t want to adversely effect my pool water by using a wrong chemical. I just want to clean the outside of the glass to rid it of the white smokey haze. I believe the cause is splash from the waterfall over the glass from my spa to my pool. The white haze will not rub off. It currently covers only portions of the glass, but I believe it will eventually cover all the glass, dulling the look of the spa, especially at night when I turn on the spa light. I need ideas to erase or remove the offending build up on the glass.

          

To begin we need to define the function of a spa cover.

1) Keep out debris. Keeping leaves, rain and debris out of the spa water is important. This helps the water filters and chemicals do their job keeping the water clear and ready for you next use.

2) Insulate. This is the second most important reason for having a cover. Since you want to jump in your spa whenever the mood or opportunity hits you. The objective is to keep the spa water warm while using the least amount of power to do so. If your spa cover insulates well that saves you money on your power bill.

3) Easy access to the spa. If your spa cover keeps out the leaves and insulates the water but you have to wrestle it every time you want to get into the spa then it isn?t worth much. In my many years in the spa cover business I have discovered the number one reason people quit using their spa is this one thing, ease of use. If your cover gets heavy and it just becomes too much of a struggle to get in to use the spa you will use it less and less. You’ll sell it or give it away to and say these words as it leaves, “It works fine, it just needs a new cover.” Would you give away your car because it needs new tires? If you purchased your spa new it cost about as much as a small car.

A note on gazebos, tea houses, obstacles, plantings and privacy fences. These quaint little buildings are fine but they don’t belong on your spa. If you went to the fair and bought one as part of a package with your spa, I’m sorry. Do yourself a favor. Take it off your spa and put it somewhere else in your yard. Let your spa be a spa and the other be… pretty somewhere else. If you want to use your spa for years to come it has to be easy to get into and any obstruction to that must be avoided.

Now that we have defined the purpose of a spa cover let’s look at what is currently available to meet those needs.

Aluminum covers are rigid and strong enough to handle a snow load and when properly secured they will keep the rain running off and the debris out. Unfortunately the offer little in the way of insulation. If your spa is seven or eight feet square a rigid aluminum cover could be difficult to manage. I have heard of rigid foam covers being made airborne by the wind and doing serious damage to whatever it slams into. If an aluminum cover were to go flying I can only imagine the damage would be even worse.

Rolling covers are rigid and strong, they make a nice flat surface that can serve as a place to walk or a handy place to stack stuff. They can make it easy to get off and on. The rolling cover does keep out most of the debris but not as good at keeping the rain out or the heat in.

Walk on spa covers are stronger than the typical rigid foam cover. They usually are exactly the same as a rigid foam cover just with added reinforcement to stand up to a little more weight. So they insulate as well as the typical rigid foam cover. They do serve to keep rain and debris out well. The disadvantages are that with the extra strength comes added weight which makes it more difficult to use. Also since they still use foam eventually that foam will saturate which will make it even heavier. Amazingly, given enough wind they still fly. If one of these covers takes off it will most definitely cause damage.

An inexpensive cover is a tarp style spa cover. It will come with a separate thing you inflate and put under it to make the rain and debris out of your spa. It claims to be easier to handle than an insulating cover so it fails in that area. On the plus side it probably will never fly away or get heavy and break. If the inflatable portion fails it could probably be replaced with a big inner tube. If you want cheap then this would be a good option but if keeping the power bill down (insulation) is important than I’d skip it.

Now we get to the insulating spa covers.

The first and most readily recognized cover is the rigid foam cover. This is the type your spa probably came with when it was new. It does a fair job of keeping unwanted rain and debris out. Because it has foam inside it does offer more insulation than most of the covers we have covered to this point. But the foam insulation is attempting to keep the water warm without ever coming in contact with it. Since the little insulation it does offer is dependent on the little air spaces in the foam, once those spaces are filled with moisture the spa cover has roughly the same insulation value as a wet piece of plywood. Your spa has to work harder to keep the water warm. When you finally throw your back out lifting it you went back in to the spa dealer and mentioned it got heavy. He promptly sold you another cover and a bar lifter system to go with it. It worked great until that next cover got saturated. Oddly enough even a saturated foam cover will still fly in the wind. I have heard of people finding their cover half a mile away after a wind storm. I have people using huge blocks of concrete on their spa covers to hold them down. Once again if you have to move a stack of bricks to get into your spa I am willing to bet you are not using it very often.

The other option is the air filled spa cover. This cover style uses air to insulate like the foam cover but in air chambers rather than rigid foam. The bottom of the spa cover rests right on the water. This cuts down dramatically on heat loss due to evaporation and condensation, and since it insulates starting right at the water surface it does a better job keeping the water warm while using less energy. Using the water for support the spa cover is not trying to make a bridge over the spa so no amount of snow load is going to crush it. These spa covers have been around for years and are used in places that get world record snowfall (Yes, even the alps) and I have yet to hear of even one being crushed by snow. Since there is no rigid foam to saturate or break they tend to have a useful life much greater than the typical spa cover. Because it has a natural dome shape the air filled cover does a great job of shedding the rain and debris. The air filled spa cover stays put even in the strongest wind storm because there is no rigid wing like surface to create lift. Even in places that get tremendous winds (yes even Kansas) these covers won’t blow away. If you are tired of replacing your spa cover every couple of years and you plan on owning and using your spa for years to come I would strongly urge you to at lease check out this style of cover.

          

Dreammaker X-400 Spa using Diamond Spa Chlorine and associated PH / ALK and Shock chemicals.