If you want to keep your hot tub experience safe, hygienic and enjoyable, it's essential that you shock your tub once a week. If you don't know how to shock your hot tub, don’t stress – you’re in the best place! Here's a guide on how to shock a hot tub, including a list of all the equipment and products you will need.
What Does It Mean to Shock a Hot Tub?
Hot tub shocking is essentially a chemical deep clean for your tub that helps to restore the water quality, balance the pH levels and keep your soaking experience clean and safe.
Using a large dose of chlorine or non-chlorine hot tub oxidiser, you can remove bodily contaminants like oils, dead skin, lotions and dirt that can serve as nutrients for nasty bacteria like legionella, pseudomonas aeruginosa and fecal-borne pathogens.
You can either use an application of chlorine (sodium dichlor) or non-chlorine shock (potassium monopersulfate or MPS) to break down any contaminants in your tub and restore water quality and clarity.
If chloramines (a harmful version of chlorine) are present in your hot tub water, the process of hot tub shocking will convert them back to active chlorine. Plus, if you're using bromine sanitizer, the hot tub shocking process will activate the non-disinfecting bromide ion and turn it into a sanitizing hypobromous acid. Both of these shocking products are 100% compatible with the sanitizer systems that we offer at Premier Hot Tubs.
How Often Should I Shock My Hot Tub?
You should shock your hot tub at least once a week, but more often if it is used heavily or has had a period of inactivity. If your hot tub appears cloudy, has unpleasant odours or algae growth, it is definitely time you shock it!
What Materials Do I Need?
Non-chlorine shock doesn't contain chlorine, and it doesn't disinfect the water by itself. Instead, it helps the chlorine work better by oxidising the water and creating 'free chlorine'. This is what is needed to kill contaminants within your hot tub water.
You can use chlorine shock to shock your hot tub, but this will temporarily increase the chlorine levels to a point where it will be unsafe to swim in your hot tub for 8-12 hours. When you use a non-chlorine shock, you're not adding any more chlorine to the water, so you will be safe to get back into your hot tub after just 30 minutes!
When you use bromine tablets as a sanitiser alongside non-chlorine shock, the non-chlorine shock will activate the sanitizing effects of bromine, making it work more effectively against contaminants.
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Chemical-Resistant Measuring Cups
You will need these to accurately measure the product amounts. For dosage, scroll to the bottom of this blog!
This bucket will be used to pre-dissolve the shock granules in before adding them to your tub.
Use hot tub test strips to test the pH levels of your hot tub before beginning the shocking process.
How To Shock a Hot Tub
Here's how to shock your hot tub using non-chlorine shock:
- Before you start, make sure that you have consulted both your hot tub manual and the shock product’s labels for specific instructions and dosage amounts based on your hot tub’s capacity.
- Remove the hot tub cover so that gasses can escape and ensure that the water temperature is above 20°c.
- Use test strips to check the water’s Ph and alkalinity levels. The ideal range will be between 2 and 7.6. If the level is not within this range, adjust using a hot tub pH increaseror a hot tub pH reducer so that the shock treatment will work effectively.
- Turn on the pumps/jets on a low setting.
- Measure the correct amount of shock based on your tub’s volume. You can then pre-dissolve the measured amount in a clean bucket of warm hot tub water, using 1 litre of water per 10g of shock. Once the mixture is fully dissolved, pour it into the spa near the water inlets for better distribution.
- Leave the hot tub uncovered with the jets running for at least 20 minutes. If using non-chlorine shock, you should be able to use the hot tub after these 20 minutes, providing the levels are safe. If you have used chlorine shock, you will need to wait for the free chlorine levels to drop back to the safer range of 3-5 parts per million (ppm), which can take up to 24 hours.
The Litres/Gallons/Dose Rate:
Still not sure? Check out our simple and easy to follow video guide on how to shock a hot tub:
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Here at Premier Hot Tubs, we understand that a hot tub is a big investment and that maintaining it will be a top priority. That is why we're proud to stock all the hot tub chemicals and accessories that you may need to care for your hot tub.
We truly care about our customers and the service they receive. We hope this article has answered your questions about how to shock your hot tub, but please don't hesitate to contact us if you need any further advice or check out our Hot Tub FAQs.
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