- Spa

What Causes the Foul Smell in Your Hot Tub and Spa?

What will you do if your hot tub and spa smell like skunk? Skunk smell not only gives you inconveniences in life, the smell also seems like a nightmare that you want nothing more than to get rid of them instantly.

What Causes the Foul Smell?

It is important to know what caused the odor. Smelly hot tubs are commonly caused by improper use of sanitizers, irregular maintenance, environmental issues, and other causes that you attribute to your imagination. Oftentimes the by-products of the chemicals are the culprit. An example is the end result of chlorine and bromine combined: chloramines.

Chloramines are also formed by the sweat, urine, saliva, and sputum introduced into the water by spa users causing strange odors in spa water. The good news is you can prevent this hell of a smell with proper maintenance.

Some owners get rid of bad-smelling air by masking the odors with spa fragrances. Little did they know this procedure only gives them short-term relief. The odor will eventually continue to get worse than ever. Using sanitizers that are not intended for hottubs and spas can also create foul smell. You have to only use spa formulated sanitizers like biguanide.

Water Shocking

Shocking the water using additional non-chlorine oxidizer like potassium mono-persulfate helps break down the chemical bonds and clear out organic material. After shocking the water, it is recommended to remove the hot tub cover for about 2 hours to give way for the waste to completely gas-off.

Important Maintenance for Spa

Irregular maintenance can cause foul smell. Sanitizing your spa water is the most important maintenance you can do for your spa. Not only this eliminates the odor, regular maintenance also helps the tub and spa stay in their prime condition.

Deep cleaning is advised to sanitize your spa and remove the biofilm build-up. Drain your spa regularly to control the odor. Also clean the filters, hot tub covers and other spa accessories.

Environmental Issues

The build-up of biofilms on spa surface contributes to the formation of mold and pink slime and odors. Algae can also make your tub water cloudy. It is highly recommended to use plumbing line cleaning products such as spa system flush. Regular use of this system flush helps aid in removing the films.

With a little effort of at least fifteen to thirty minutes every week, you can control the fast build up of odors in your spa and hottubs.