I was relaxing in a friends Hot Tub Jacuzzi last week and we started discussing how the whole concept of Hot Tubs and Jacuzzi Spas was born.

I know from a Jacuzzi, Inc press release that "The History of the Jacuzzi Brand": ... started some time back in time in the early 1900s, when the Jacuzzi brothers of which there were seven emigrated from Italy to California in the United States of America.

The Jacuzzi brothers made great strides in aviation by inventing the first enclosed cabin monoplane, which, not only, carried mail for the U.S. Postal Service but also passengers from the San Francisco Bay area to the Yosemite National Park in California.

Incorporating their hydraulic insight, the Jacuzzi Brothers, as they had come to be known in the 1920's later made some notable improvements in the agricultural pump industry. In time this led to an invention that became a regular fixture in American homes and indeed homes around the world today.

I am sure that just over half a century ago (1956) when the Jacuzzi brothers invented a portable hydrotherapy pump that they used to treat a family member with arthritis that they had no idea that from that invention many multi million dollar industries would be spawned. Not only in making Hot Tubs but in providing the many component parts.

From this initial design a small niche business was developed by supplying a portable pump which was known as the J-300, a portable pump, to hospitals and schools.

Then in 1968 that same pioneering spirit of the original Jacuzzi brothers was strong in a third generation family member namely Roy Jacuzzi.

He invented what is generally regarded as the world's first whirlpool bath in 1968.

When he was a teenager, he worked in the family business in a variety of roles. Studying and learning how the business operated from the bottom up.

In 1968, his passion for design and engineering emerged when he invented and marketed the world's first integrated hot tub or whirlpool bath, known as the Roman. Of course hot Tubs have been known in times past by many civilizations including the Roman's and it was known that Roman Centurions would seek out the soothing properties of a natural Hot Spring either after a long march or after a battle. So perhaps it was very apt to name the first model the Roman.

Around the world, it has been common practice for many thousands of years for people apart from Roman Centurions to soak away their aches and pains in warm thermal baths.

It has been shown that warm water is a natural relief for the many ailments that the stress of life brings. In modern day care homes this is often available to help elderly people keep mobile in their later years.

During the ancient Times of Egypt, Greece & Rome soaking in Hot Water was a tradition and that still continues today.

In those ancient times it was a normal practice to relax and enjoy long hot soaks, not only was it a ritual but indeed more than that as it was known to bring relief from the aches and pains of life. In those days these were often simply small pools of water with the benefit of having warm water piped into them often from a natural hot spring.

Hot Tubs are now constructed in many western countries to the highest standards and the development of the Spa continues at a pace.

The original Jacuzzi pump, when combined with jets used an air-injection system, created a mixture very similar to a kind of bubbling water-and-air.

In time a variety of American manufacturers experimented with different methods to propel the air/water stream into the spa with ever increasing degrees of pressure and control.

Initially spas used a simple idea that involved not much more than a simple vacuum cleaner motor operating simply as a blower in some ways similar to blowing air into the hot tub in the same way that we as children probably would have used a straw to blow bubbles in to a glass of lemonade or coca cola.

Again as time passed the leading designers soon began thinking of things like the venturi principle, in which water is drawn through a funnel-like device to create a vacuum that pulls in air. As the water flow and pressure increases, the jet automatically draws in more air, which results in more water flow and movement not unlike the idea of an exhaust driven turbo charger in a car.

Quoting Roy Jacuzzi, chairman, CEO and president of Jacuzzi Inc. of California America Roy said "A venturi system is a conventional approach," "What I did was take air and water all around that so I was getting a 300/60 air-to-water mixture. " I was actually taking the water and air combination ... and exploding that,"

The earliest spas, though, had only enough jets to simply churn the water.

Quoting another well known manufacturer Bernie Burba, founder of Baja Products Inc from Tucson in Arizona he said "When we first came out with spas, they had two spa jets on them, "Now you see portable spas with 60 on them. You might say that's overkill, but it isn't," he said. "We've really learned about water therapy and that lots of jets - lots of water and air moving across your body - is a very satisfying, restful and helpful experience."

I have to say as a regular user of a Hot Tub he is spot on.

As always my firm advice remains that one should, only buy a product that comes from an American or European, internationally recognized, producer of Hot Tubs.

That way you know that the Hot Tub will be safe from an electrical view point and it will be made from proper components and controls and be able to run on low amperage electricity unlike those that are made in the east. It will not fuse your house or villa electrics or harm any of your other home appliances. I am not joking in that regard as I have heard of two or three instances of that happening with Spas that were made in China.

When you buy a product from an internationally recognized manufacturer there is every chance that the product will last and last and provide very many years of good service.

The thinking is simple that the internationally recognized maker will back his product with a proper guarantee, so if, in the unlikely event, that there is a fault it does fall back on the manufacturer and not on the you the consumer.

The reason why they are able to provide these guarantees' is that they have had many decades of experience and therefore they build them, in the first place, with the proper quality parts and components so ensuring that it will not fail.

It is for that simple reason and that reason alone that they are then prepared to provide a long life guarantee.