Chlorine tablets are one of the most inexpensive and simplest ways to keep your hot tubbing experience safe and healthy with little effort. Using chlorine tablets in your hot tub (how, when and why).
Taking the form of small tablets you place inside a dispenser to float in the water and slowly dissolve over time, they’re great for almost any make or model of tub.
Here’s what you need to know about using chlorine tablets so that you can keep on tubbin’!
Why Do You Add Chlorine To Hot Tubs?
Chlorine is a proven, decades-old method of keeping the water we humans need free from bacteria, algae, and harmful contaminants and pathogens.
People use it to sanitise drinking water, swimming pools, and more.
It’s also the go-to sanitising solution for most hot tub owners.
Because hot tubbing is a fun, relaxing, and often super social activity. Yet it’s also one where a group of humans get into water together, often leaving trace elements of dead skin, hair, and any potions or lotions they were wearing in the water behind them.
Chlorine is great at clearing these up, with the added advantage of being easy to apply and very cheap.
Click here if you are adding chlorine to your hot tub for the first time.
What Are Hot Tub Chlorine Tablets?
Hot tub chlorine tablets are one of the two formats of chlorine that hot tub owners use to maintain their tubs’ highly important chlorine levels.
Chlorine tablets are designed for slow release over time after being placed in a floating dispenser.
The other format – chlorine granules – are also highly effective, and has its own pros and cons. It’s also quite common for hot tub owners to use both formats in combination.
The tablets keep a regular baseline chlorine level and are topped up with granules when regular testing reveals it’s necessary.
Why Use Hot Tub Chlorine Tablets?
Using chlorine tablets for hot tub cleanliness is a good idea for several key reasons:
- Highly cost-effective – chlorine tablets are very cheap and easy to acquire. A small handful of tablets will last for a whole week.
- Easy to remember – granules, while being flexible, are easy to forget during the fun of preparing for your hot tubbing experience!
- Slow release – because the tablets slowly release chlorine into the tub over time, they make it easy to keep a regular base level of chlorine, especially when you use a floating hot tub chlorine dispenser.
However, it would be remiss not to point out that there are downsides to tablet use. Or, at least, there are things that it is a good idea to be aware of if you want your tablets to be effective.
First of all, chlorine granules are pH neutral but tablets are acidic. This means you need to test the pH and alkalinity levels of your water before use. However, this is good practice before using your tub anyway. Tablets simply increase the chance you might need to do some balancing of the PH levels.
Also, while the “fire and forget” nature of tablets is a boon as far as memory goes, it can result in too little attention being paid.
Used correctly, this won’t be a problem. Used incorrectly, tablets can cause very high chlorine levels, potentially causing health problems and damage to your tub.
How Do Chlorine Tablets Work?
1) Test Your pH And Chlorine Levels
This is a habit that’s worth forming. You’ll always want to aim for between 1.5 and 3 parts per million of chlorine in your water. You should also check your alkalinity levels with a PH test strip.
Chlorine and pH test strips are cheap to buy and easy to use.
2) Calculate Your Chlorine Dose
A rough guideline figure for an average size of tablet is seven per 2500 gallons of water if you are starting from zero chlorine. If you already have some chlorine in there, you will need less.
Always follow the instructions on the tablet packaging and be sure to check your hot tub instructions too.
3) Place Tablets In The Dispenser
Chlorine tablets are deployed using a special tablet dispenser that you’ll need to acquire separately. Again, these are broadly inexpensive and very easy to use.
All you usually need to do is twist off the cap, pop the tablets inside, and you’re good to go.
4) Wait And Test
Leave your dispenser floating in the water for around two hours then test your levels again:
- The classic “safe” range is between 1.5 and 5 parts per million.
- Ideally, most recommend a level under 3 parts per million.
Between 5 and 8 parts per million is fine if you’re getting your tub up to cleanliness from a fresh start, but never get in the water when it’s at this level. Unless you like the idea of burning skin and eyes and vomiting, that is!
How Many Chlorine Tablets Do You Need To Put In A Hot Tub?
A good average amount is 1-3 chlorine tablets for a small hot tub and 3-5 tablets for a larger tub.
But it’s always a good idea to calculate this more precisely using manufacturer guidelines and then test the chlorine and pH levels in your tub before you actually get in.
One handful of chlorine tablets should last for about a week, meaning you’re then free to enjoy a soothing, relaxing, or fun hot tubbing experience.
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