Our support staff is frequently asked, “Why do I need to change the water in my hot tub?” There are several reasons why it is highly recommended when starting the iONRx® system. The primary reason to start with fresh water in a hot tub is due to TDS or Total Dissolved Solids. The term TDS primarily refers to the minerals and salts that are dissolved in the water. These minerals and salts include; Calcium, Magnesium, sulfates, chlorides, potassium, bicarbonates, and others. TDS can determine how effectively the chemicals that you use to treat your hot tub will work. There is a direct correlation with TDS and how efficiently the chemicals work in treating your water. In the water treatment industry, the TDS value of water is an important tool that we use to determine how “old” or “tired” the water is.
Where Do Total Dissolved Solids Come From?
Dissolved solids are a natural occurrence in water. Even if you are using reverse osmosis water for your spa, you will eventually have to deal with TDS. Well water systems, or areas that have “hard” water, will have higher TDS even when you put in fresh water. Chances are when using these types of source water, you will have to change the water in your spa more often. There are two actions increase TDS over time in your spa. Every time you add any type of chemical to treat your spa, your TDS number will rise. This is a real problem for people who are using bromine or chlorine-based sanitation systems.
Both chlorine and bromine will naturally raise the TDS level in your water, but there is a “double-edged” sword here. Due to the nature of these products, every time you add sanitizer or oxidizer you will also need to make adjustments to the pH and alkalinity levels, which will add even more to your TDS number. This is one of the fundamental advantages of iONRx versus bromine-based treatment. TDS increases considerably less when you use an all-natural water treatment solution such as iONRx®. It is recommended that you change the water in a bromine-based spa every few months because of TDS, but a spa utilizing the iONRx® technology can easily go six months or longer between changing the water.
How Do Total Dissolved Solids Increase Over Time?
The second reason your TDS will climb higher over time is due to evaporation. In a spa or hot tub, this issue is even more compounded due to the high temperatures that are maintained in a spa. Your water is evaporating the minerals and TDS are being left behind. So, every time you have to add water to your spa, the number of Total Dissolved Solids has risen.
One of our core beliefs at iONRx® is ‘less is more.’ The fewer chemicals you add to your water, the more pleasant your hot tub experience will be. We want to try and keep the water as close to natural water as possible. Keeping TDS low is the best for your personal health but also allows you to use less water when enjoying your spa.
High TDS Makes Your Chemicals Work Harder
When the TDS of water is high (over 2500) it has an effect on the chemicals that you use to treat it. This effect is called buffering. Although a buffer is sometimes a good thing for swimming pools and hot tubs, as it helps slow down fast reactions of chemicals; when the buffering effect occurs due to high TDS, this is a very detrimental thing. When the TDS of your hot tub is very high, the water will resist any effect you are trying to accomplish with your choice of treatment.
When we use the term “resist” it means that your spa or hot tub will literally resist the effect your treatment products are trying to do. For example, when using chlorine or bromine as your sanitizer, you will need over double the amount you use to reach the same level of treatment when your TDS is over 3000 versus 1000. Think about that…..just because you may have been a little lazy or think having to change the water will cost too much…..you are now spending a great more in chemicals. Not only will you be using more chemicals you are now raising your TDS even faster than before. Although with iONRx® hot tub treatment solution, this buffering effect is not as significant, it still is not a good idea to run a spa or hot tub with high TDS water.
Contact Our Team of Water Treatment Experts
If you’ve noticed that you’re using high amounts of harmful chemicals to treat your spa, or it the water just doesn’t look as good as it used to, ask yourself, “when was the last time you changed out the water”? You may find that the easiest solution of all is to utilize iONRx® to reduce harmful chemicals and save water in your hot tub or spa. If you have any questions, please contact our team or give us a call at (877) 591-5930 today!
