What is a Mineral Hot Tub?

These days we are all much more conscious of the environment and consequently are trying to use fewer chemicals and to use more natural products. In the world of hot tubs using a hot tub mineral purification system reduces the amount of chemicals you need to keep your water clean and cleans your water in a more natural way that’s gentle on the skin. So, how exactly does a mineral sanitization system work in a hot tub and are they really an alternative to the more traditional chlorine or bromine?

What is a mineral hot tub? A mineral hot tub uses a mineral sanitization system to keep the water clean and pure. This is a relatively simple solution to water cleanliness and greatly reduces the amount of harsh chemicals such as chlorine or bromine needed in the hot tub. Mineral purified water is softer, sparkly, has no chlorine smell and is gentle on the skin.

What are the advantages of using a mineral sanitization system in my hot tub?

The big advantage to using a mineral sanitizer is that it will reduce the need for chlorine or bromine in your hot tub. Traditionally you would have had a level of chlorine in your hot tub at between 3 and 5 parts per million. This is great for killing bacteria and keeping the water clean but also comes with a number of less pleasant side effects. Firstly chlorine has a strong smell – personally I don’t mind it but some people find it very unpleasant to the extent that it can make them feel ill. Chlorine vapor can also encourage some respiratory issues and the chemical is harsh on the skin. Getting a rash from chlorine is relatively common as is getting red and irritated eyes. If you are sitting in a chlorine hot tub you are, after all, sitting in a bath of diluted but all the same very strong chemicals.

Using a mineral sanitization system greatly improves all of this. You will only need to use chlorine at a level of 1 part per million and this means that the smell will be greatly reduced or disappear altogether. You will also find that there is significantly less irritation to your skin and eyes and the water will be kinder to your swimming costume as well.

In addition to this, you will find that the water feels much better on your skin. It will have a softer more silky feel and will look crisper and more sparkly and appealing! 

How Does a Hot Tub Mineral Purification system work?

There are a number of different manufacturers of mineral sanitization systems and the systems themselves either work by putting a cartridge in your filter, or floating a dispenser in the water or, in some cases, in an inline cartridge. Whatever the method the mineral sanitizer basically works in the same way in that water passes over bits of erosive silver and copper ions that are condensed in activated charcoal. As the water passes through the mineral sanitizer ions are released which attack the algae and bacteria leading to cleaner fresher water and a greatly reduced need for the use of chlorine. Another added advantage is that the minerals don’t really deplete and so the cartridges are relatively maintenance-free and you only have to change them every three to four months when you do a complete water change. They even help to keep the PH level of the water correct leading to a general decrease in the amount of maintenance you will have to do as well.

Disadvantages of a mineral purification system

So far this all sounds almost too good to be true! We have found out that a mineral sanitization system greatly reduces the amount of chlorine that you have to use in your hot tub leading to a much more pleasant experience in terms of less skin irritation eye irritation and last smell.  Mineral purification systems also help to keep the pH levels of the water correct and make the water feel softer and look more sparkly. They are even relatively inexpensive, maintenance-free and last for up to 4 months before needing replacement.

So, what are the disadvantages?

Well, one of the main issues is that you can’t really test to see if the mineral system is working.  If you are using chlorine as your sanitizer you can use a test strip to assess the levels of chlorine in the water and therefore predict the amount of sanitization that is taking place. You can’t really do this with a mineral sanitization system and so to a certain extent you are left in the dark. This might not be a major problem at all if your hot tub only receives very light use.  However, if your hot tub goes through a period of heavy use you might find it difficult to work out if you need to be adding extra chlorine or shocking the tub as you won’t really be able to see how much the mineral sanitizer is working. Also, the chances are that after a period of heavy use, the mineral sanitizer probably won’t be effective enough to really cleanse the water. In this sort of situation you might need to up the amount of chlorine you used to do the job properly and to make sure that the water is completely clean. 

What different types of Mineral Purification are there?

Mineral purification systems are available from a number of different manufacturers and come in a few different forms. The type you use will depend upon your hot tub and also on your personal preferences.

Inline mineral purifying systems – With an inline system a mineral canister or receptacle is literally built “inline” (in the water pipeline) by the hot tub manufacturer. The “line” part refers to the fact that the canister becomes part of the water system, it is built into one of the flow pipes in the maintenance bay of the hot tub and is a permanent fixture. Generally speaking, an inline system will be built in when you purchase the hot tub but it is possible to have them retrofitted although one of the other methods below might well be a simpler and less expensive option. 

The advantage of the inline system is that the cartridge is out of sight. You don’t have any annoying floating dispensers and you can be sure that it will be efficient because, in theory at least, all of the water in the hot tub will be pumped through the cartridge relatively regularly and evenly. The cartridges themselves are completely maintenance-free. You don’t have to handle any chemicals and the cartridges only need changing every three to four months depending upon the amount of use they get.

There isn’t really a downside to the inline system apart from the expense of having one fitted if you don’t already have one. They are about as efficient as a mineral purification system gets and once fitted cost-effective and maintenance-free.

Floating mineral purification systems – If you don’t have an inline system fitted and you don’t want to go to the hassle of having one installed then a floating dispenser system might be a good idea. These generally have one mineral purifying stick and one bromine stick. They work together to sanitize the water and the mineral stick will need changing every three months or so and the bromine stick will last a month. 

This is a quick and easy system to use. No modifications are needed to the hot tub and you simply pop the floating dispenser into the water when the hot tub isn’t in use. It’s also cheap, easy and basically low maintenance.

On the negative side, I think that a floating dispenser has to be less efficient than an inline model where the water is systematically pumped through the system. In the floating model the amount of bromine released and the amount of mineral purification is a little more random although you can adjust the amount of treatment. You also have to remember to put the dispenser into the water after every use and of course, take it out whilst you are in the hot tub. This isn’t such a big deal and will soon become a regular habit but it is just one more thing to remember!

Filter cartridge mineral purifying systems – Probably the best compromise, if you don’t already have a built inline system is to buy a purifying stick and add it to the filter cartridge compartment. Many hot tubs have an area in the filter cartridge bay to add them and this, in many ways is the best of both worlds. You don’t need to make any modifications to your hot tub with this method and you still get a predictable and thorough pumped flow of water through the mineral stick. Again, the mineral stick will last for three to four months.

Will I still need to use chlorine in my hot tub with a mineral sanitizer?

The quick answer is that yes, you will definitely still need to use chlorine or bromine in conjunction with your mineral purifier. How much will depend upon the bather load of your hot tub though. If your hot tub gets relatively heavy use you will still probably need to use a chlorine shock on a regular basis and keep a low level of chlorine in the water to keep it sanitized. It’s possible, however, that you will half the amount of harsh chemicals you will need to use and you will really feel the benefit of this in terms of there being significantly less chemical smell, less skin irritation and less red and runny eyes.

However, if you use your hot tub less frequently and also work really hard at keeping the water clean as naturally as possible you might be able to get away with using a mineral purifier and a non-chlorine shock. Remember that you have to keep a good level of sanitization in your hot tub and that a hot tub is an ideal environment for incubating all sorts of unpleasant bacteria that can be damaging to your health. The official recommendation is that all hot tubs and pools are sanitized only with chlorine or bromine entirely as these chemicals vigourously keep the water clean and are extremely efficient at killing bacteria.

However, what you do in your own hot tub is entirely up to you. If you do not like the idea of sitting in a harsh chemical soup then you can try one of the many alternative methods of sanitization and try to stop using harsh chemicals, or at the very least reduce your reliance on them.

What other more natural hot tub sanitization sytems are there?

There are a number of other options apart from mineral sanitization that you can try. Again, depending upon how much your hot tub is used you might be able to use them alone or in combination with each other without using chlorine or bromine or at the very least be able to use a non-chlorine shock. However, in most cases you will still have to use some harsh chemicals although in significantly less quantity than if you were relying on traditional chemicals alone.

Saltwater hot tub sanitization – Saltwater sanitization is a good, natural method of keeping your water clear than utilizes the electrolysis process of passing a tiny electrical current through slightly saltwater. The by-product of this is a natural form of chlorine. This natural chlorine doesn’t smell or irritate the skin and obviously sanitizes the water. The water feels softer on the skin and has a clear natural sparkle to it.

The disadvantages to the saltwater system is that not all hot tubs are designed to withstand the corrosive properties of saltwater and so can be damaged by it. Also, the cartridges are relatively expensive to replace and are probably not particularly environmentally friendly.

UV sanitization for hot tubs – In a UV system the water is passed through a UV beam of light which basically zaps anything in the water to oblivion. UV systems are clean and environmentally friendly but need to be installed “inline” and won’t cure cloudy or foamy water so you will still need some chemical input to deal with that.

Ozone hot tub systems – Ozone systems inject ozone gas into the water which kills bacteria very effectively. Again this is an efficient sanitization method but you may still need to supplement it by using chlorine or bromine.

Related questions:

Can I turn my hot tub into a mineral spa? Yes, you can turn a hot tub into a mineral spa. There are a number of advantages to this including the fact that your hot tub water will feel softer and more gentle on your skin and you will need to use significantly fewer harsh chemicals to keep your water clean. You can simply add a mineral stick in the filter cartridge compartment of your hot tub, use a floating mineral purifying dispenser or have a full inline mineral purifying system fitted.

What is hot tub stabilizer? A hot tub stabilizer is a chemical that can be added to a hot tub that is using chlorine as a sanitizer to reduce the amount of chlorine used. When the stabilizer is added to the water and is exposed to sunlight it prevents the sunlight from breaking down the chlorine as it would usually do meaning that you need to use less chlorine to keep your sanitization levels safe.