Hot tub buyers beware! When a salt system is NOT a salt system

April 26, 2019 – Hot Spring Spas, the brand of tub we’ve offered the last 37 years, has a reputation of being an innovator in the industry. They’ve brought to market a lot of new features that make their tubs more durable, more energy efficient, easier to operate and maintain—all really outstanding things that make hot tub ownership wonderful.

One of the very biggest things they tackled and achieved was the introduction of a salt system for their tubs. This year, they introduced the newest version—the FreshWater Salt System. Not only has it made water care easier, you’re using fewer bottled products and, with proper attention, need only change the water entirely in your tub once a year. This makes it a better system from an ecological standpoint, as you’ll save thousands of gallons of water over time, And, the salt cartridges when replaced are recyclable!

There have been many studies done on the health benefits of salt water soaking. We’re grateful to be able to offer this on Hot Spring Spas.

There are others, however, who apparently believe they can spin their own story on what a salt system is in order to sell hot tubs. This is not only unfair to customers in the market for a hot tub, it’s also a question of integrity. If a company is willing to dupe you and feed falsehoods to you in the buying process, how confident should you be regarding the support and care you’ll get once that hot tub is in your backyard?

Here are some truths to know about salt systems:

• No salt system is chlorine or bromine free. Rather, the system is designed to generate sanitizer out of the salt added to the water. No responsible hot tub retailer should tell you a salt system doesn’t have or use chlorine or bromine. That’s simply not the case.
• There are add-on systems out there you can put in a hot tub not equipped to have a salt system integrated into its operation. Realize that systems like those do not take into account the filtration of your tub, the number of times the entire body of water may get cleaned and filtered and are not integrated into the rest of your tub’s control system. They will require separate attention and have a separate set of operating instructions. In many cases, very few of these types of systems are actually sold, as the hot tub retailer isn’t as well versed in how they operate.
• No salt system is “maintenance free”. Regardless of the salt system used, all water care testing should be done on a regular basis and alkalinity and pH levels adjusted and kept in the correct range. Not doing so could cause issues with components of your tub and water that isn’t optimal for healthy soaking.
• This is a major issue: Some retailers, in their efforts to sell their hot tubs that do NOT have a salt system available, have been found misleading customers into believing “any hot tub can be a salt hot tub”. They then proceed to tell folks they can add Sodium Bromide to the tub and voila! You have a tub with salt. This is not only dishonest, it’s irresponsible. This is nothing more than a bromine water care option for a tub. If you are given this as an answer to whether they have a salt system available, I’d thank them for their time and make a hasty exit. You have the right to be given a good education on the hot tub you consider purchasing and can only make that decision when someone is offering up honest, verifiable info.

It should also be noted that there have been health studies showing that bromine is not a great way to sanitize your hot tub. At Olympic, we’ve never been a true fan of bromine, although it certainly has been a mainstay water care option in the industry for decades. But with research showing that bromine and associated compounds that get created in hot tub sanitizing can lead to thyroid cancer, we have always strongly advised our customers to use other products to keep their tubs clean and healthy. In fact, in my 24 years with Olympic, not once have we sold a hot tub with bromine as its sanitizer.

Here are some of the reasons why we think the FreshWater Salt System with a Hot Spring Spa is the very best answer when you want healthy salt water soaks:

• The salt system is fully integrated into the hot tub’s filtration and operating system. It’s not an add-on that may or may not work successfully! It works in tandem with Hot Spring’s continuous filtration system for minimal care and the best end user experience.
• When testing or other tasks need to be completed by you, the hot tub will alert you via messages on the tub’s control panel. This makes it easy to keep things copacetic on the water care front so you’re always soaking the best water possible.
• The cartridge for the system doesn’t require any cleaning or other maintenance. When it’s due for replacement every four months, simply remove the cartridge, recycle it, and replace it with a new one. Easy step-by-step instructions on the tub’s control panel walk you through this and can be done in under two minutes!
• The FreshWater Salt System is producing natural chlorine as the sanitizer from the salt in the water—not bromine.
• They’ve made a conscious effort to create a state-of-the-art system that works well in a hot water environment. This means that the salt needed to work successfully in your tub is at a very low level (less than in human tears!) to eliminate the likelihood of corrosion or damage to any component of your tub.
• You’ll discover that the water feels softer, smells better, and even looks better than it does with traditional water care systems. You’ll be amazed at the difference if you’ve ever sat in hot tubs using older water care methods!
• Hot Spring Spas is the only brand of hot tub with ten years of experience offering a salt system as an integrated water care option. The system they use is proprietary and designed to work in harmony with the tub for healthy soaking every day of the year!

If you’re ready for a hot tub, and love the idea of salt water soaking, I hope you’ll check out Hot Spring Spas. And—if you’re in our area—even better! We have a full range of Hot Spring Spas on display with FreshWater Salt Systems in operation. We invite you to come to one of our six showrooms, get a good honest education on how the system works, and even give a tub or two a try! (By the way, we even have a Hot Spring Spa with an operational FreshWater Salt System on display at our Service & Outlet Center!) You’ll be thrilled at what you discover and will conclude for yourself why Hot Spring is the ultimate hot tub to own.