Discover why you need chemicals in your hot tub and what to use.

No-one wants hazardous water-borne bacteria in their hot tub do they? So the best way to keep them at bay is by using hot tub chemicals. Although chlorine is used in swimming pools it is not recommended in a hot water environment, for keeping your water sanitized, as it loses it's bacteria fighting properties at temperatures over 80 degrees.

There are chemicals that are specifically designed for use in hot water and have the dual benefit of keeping the water crystal clear.

You will need hot tub chemicals that will safely remove any of the following that definitely are, or may be in your hot tub water:

* Tanning lotion - do you get in and out of your hot tub between sun bathing or sunbed sessions?

* Natural body oils and sweat

* If your water supply is hard then calcium and lime deposits will clog up your hot tub with the potential to ruin the pipework and the water pump as well as making the water look dirty much in the same way that they will clog up your washing machine and leave deposits in your kettle

* Moving water caused by jets of pressure causes foam to form

You will need to get into a routine of adding hot tub chemicals on a daily basis, checking the water and then adding the chemicals to keep the levels up to the desired rate.

If you like your water to be clean and clear, and who doesn't? Then maintaining the pH factor factor of the water will be an essential part of your routine.

The hot tubs guidelines suggest that you want an optimal pH level of between 7.2 and 7.6. You will find that there are many brand name products to achieve this and their product names will give you a clue as to their function e.g. pH-Plus or pH-minus.

Based on the list above you can buy chemicals to deal with each of these events:

* Tanning lotions, natural body oils and sweat require water purifiers which will break down the oils and remove them from the water

* You can prevent calcium and lime deposits from building up using specialist chemicals, which can also be used to break them down and flush them out of your tub

* Lime scum is removed by specialist cleaners which come in paste form

* Foam can be prevented using anti-foaming hot tub chemicals or if you need to get rid of foam that has already formed then there are chemicals especially for this too which are fast acting

As you will see it is important to keep your hot tub clean and free from bacteria and other water borne contaminants that will spoil your enjoyment of your hot tub. So keep you and your hot tub healthy with the regular use of hot tub chemicals.