Drain and Refill Your Spa Every 4 Months

As you use your spa, the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) continue to rise because of bather use and water treatment chemicals.  Contamination from perspiration, body oils, cosmetics, etc. increase the total dissolved solids.  Minerals from the source water and dissolved salts from water treatment chemicals also contribute to the TDS increase.  An increase in TDS most often indicates an accumulation of impurities.

High TDS will can cause hazy water, corrode fixtures and inhibit proper sanitization.  TDS can be reduced by a drain and refill of your spa.  To avoid struggling to maintain your spa, A-1 Pools suggest residential spas with 1-2 bathers 2-3 times a week be drained once every four months.  In the Wisconsin climate, A-1 Pools suggests establishing a drain and refill schedule of April, August & December to avoid the deep-freezing winter months.

PRO TIP:  If you want to calculate the exact drain and refill your spa needs based on its size and usage, you can use the following industry formula for standalone spas.  Water Replacement Interval in Days = (Spa Capacity in Gallons / 3) divided by Bathers Per Day.  For example, if you have a 400-gallon spa and on average 2 bathers use the spa 3 times a week (2 bathers X 3 times divided by 7 days a week equals an average of 0.85 bathers per day) the formula would look like this: (400 gallons / 3) divided by 0.85 bathers per day = 157 days; or about 5.23 months.

Before you drain and refill your spa, you should consider treating your spa with a pipe cleaner, such as Spa Purge.  Pipe cleaners are added to the water and circulated through the plumbing to help remove organic build up inside your spas plumbing.  You should add this will the spa is warm, with the filters removed, and plan so you can let the cleaner circulate through the spa for 12 hours.  While the spa drains, you will want to rinse the spa interior and flush the lines to remove the remaining cleaner.

While you are allowing 12 hours to circulate your pipe cleaner, it is a good time to clean your spa filters with a naturally based filter cleaner such as Filter Perfect. Remember it recommended to replace your filters every year, or at a maximum, every two years.

After the spa is drained, it is a good opportunity to clean the spa surface with a spa safe cleaner such as Clean & Perfect.  After cleaning the interior, while the spa is filling, you can use Clean & Perfect to clean your vinyl spa cover and then treat it with 303 Outdoor Protectant to prevent it from prematurely drying out.

Don’t struggle with difficult to maintain old spa water.  It is healthier, and best practice, to drain and refill on average every 4 months.  OR, let A-1 Pools do the work for you with our professional drain and refill service. Please contact the professionals at A-1 Pools with any questions.