How to Fix & Prevent Cloudy Hot Tub Water

There are a number of reasons hot tub water can become cloudy, and in this blog we will cover all the major reasons for cloudiness and give you tips on how to deal with them so that your hot tub water is always clean, clear and ready to use!

Unbalanced Water

Having healthy, sparkling clear hot tub water requires that your water is balanced. Having balanced water is equally as important as adding sanitizer and spa shock to keep your hot tub water clean & clear.

Unbalanced water can result in staining, scale build up and green, foamy, or cloudy water.

If the Alkalinity & pH levels are off it will also make keeping your sanitizer levels where they should be more difficult, and you might find you are adding sanitizer more frequently because it is less effective in unbalanced water.

Use a test strip to check your water, and if the Alkalinity or pH are off, make adjustments accordingly to re-balance your water. Adjust your Alkalinity level first and get that balanced before making an adjustment to your pH levels.

Use Alka-Plus to increase Alkalinity and pH Booster to increase pH level. If your Alkalinity level is high, use pH Reducer which brings down both Alkalinity & pH levels.

Sanitizer Level Too Low

Keeping an ideal sanitizer level is a cornerstone of basic hot tub chemistry and will help maintain water that is safe, clean and clear.

Once your hot tub water is correctly balanced, check the sanitizer level is where it should be. Cloudy water is often a result of insufficient sanitizer levels in your hot tub water.

To prevent your water from going cloudy, treat it with 30g (1 capful) of Sun-Boom granular sanitizer to ensure the level rises back to the safe range (1ppm if your hot tub is equipped with ClearRay, 3-5ppm if it is not). Add sanitizer as required based on your test strip results. On average most people add sanitizer 2-3 times per week.

Contaminants in Water

Hair products, skin products, detergents, oils & lotions can all contribute to cloudy water. These can be dealt with by using Non-Chlorine Shock on a regular basis.

Non-chlorine shock is a monopersulfate compound, often called MPS for short. It is an oxygen-based shock, preferred by many because it has little or no odor and does not spike up your chlorine levels.

The purpose of spa shock is to break-down organic waste contaminants which cause odor and cloudy water. After using spa shock, water quality and clarity is often completely restored.

If irritating chloramines are present in the water, shocking with chlorine free shock also converts them back to active chlorine which will sanitize your water and remove the strong chemical smell that chloramines create.

Use 100g (4 capfuls) of Spa Shock once or twice a week depending on hot tub use to eradicate contaminates and keep your water looking great.

Dirty or Clogged Filters

Dirty, clogged hot tub filters can make it difficult to maintain your hot tub’s water. They can also put strain on your pumps or cause “Open Flow Switch” or “FLO” errors to occur, which stop your hot tub from filtering and heating.

Even if your pleated cartridge filters look clean, they can often be coated in oils, soaps and lotions that can clog your filters, reduce water flow, put strain on your pumps, and cause your water to be foamy or cloudy.

Rinsing your pleated hot tub filter with a garden hose every month will keep debris at bay, but a deep clean with a filter cleaning product such as AquaMagic or Cartridge Cleaner each time you change your water will increase the efficiency of your hot tub filters, help your pumps perform at their best and keep your water looking and feeling great!

If you own a hot tub from Sundance Spas, you may have a MicroClean filter in addition to your pleated filter.

2023+ 680 Series spas use the disposable MicroMini inner filters that should be replaced every 3-5 months,

780 Series hot tubs use the disposable Micro1 filters that should be replaced every 3-5 months.

880 & 980 series hot tubs are equipped with an Inner Core filter that is fully disposable and should be replaced every 6-12 months. Sundance Micro Filters do not require any cleaning.

Keeping your filters clean and replacing them on schedule will go a long way toward keeping your water clean and clear. 

Insufficient Circulation

Proper circulation allows your water to move freely through the filtration system in order to be cleaned. Circulation also helps to distribute chemicals added to the water. If hot tub water is allowed to sit for long periods of time without circulation, it can become cloudy.

We recommend setting your hot tub circulation to the maximum possible level.

780, 880 & 980 series spas have high flow energy efficient Dynamic Flow Silent Circulation Pump that can be set between 8-24 hours a day. At it’s maximum setting, evey drop of water in these Sundance hot tubs will be filtered 104 times every day! 

ClearRay Bulb Needs to Be Replaced

If you own a Sundance hot tub that was built after 2012, it is equipped with the ClearRay Active Oxygen UV-C Water Purification System.

The ClearRay system is designed to deal with 99.9% of all waterborne pathogens in your Sundance hot tub, and requires annual bulb replacement.

Failure to replace the bulb once a year will result in increased chemical usage and a higher likelihood of cloudy, foamy water.

ClearRay bulb replacement is easy to do, and you can use your control panel to set a reminder to pop up in a year’s time to ensure timely replacement of your UV-C bulb.

TDS Levels Are Too High

Hot tub water that is older than 3 – 4 months accumulate high levels of TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) that cause persistent cloudiness. If the TDS levels are too high, you can keep adding chemicals to the water trying to get it clean and they will have no effect. At this stage, it is time to drain, clean and re-fill your hot tub. 

For more information on how to deal with cloudy hot tub water or details on our current sales promotion, please feel free to visit any of our 6 locations (Burlington, Hamilton, Mississauga, Oakville, St. Catharines & Vaughan) we look forward to seeing you!