Freshwater Phosphate remover is a concentrated formula designed to eliminate phosphates from your spa water. 

What Causes High Phosphates in Hot Tubs?

Phosphates can enter your hot tub from your source water on initial fill. The phosphate level will be then added to from multiple sources including rain water, leaves, body oils, cosmetic products and even some hot tub chemicals. So you could well have a high phosphate level in your hot tub straight after fresh fill and also add them when topping up from your garden hose.

Why do I have phosphates in my Spa? What are phosphates? What harm do phosphates do?

Phosphates in Hot Tubs

Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus, found in many phosphate minerals. In ecological terms, phosphate is a very important resource as its availability can govern the rate of growth of organisms (especially in fresh water systems). In other words, phosphate is often the determining factor in whether microorganisms like algae and bacteria grow. This important characteristic makes them undesirable in hot tub water as they can ‘fuel’ a microbial infestation (biofilm). In addition, the presence of phosphates can create a significant demand for sanitisers like bromine and chlorine as oxidisers like these will attempt to break phosphates down. Green water can be a sign of phosphates. Phosphates will also combine with calcium ions in the water as it heats to form a calcium phosphate complex, leading to scale formation and dull water. In salt-water hot tubs, phosphate can coat the electrodes of the device, preventing the efficient production of chlorine or bromine or cause scale to form on the electrode. Phosphates provide no useful benefit but can make successful water management problematic and costly.

Phosphate removal:

• Use test strips to measure phosphate levels in the water. Levels greater than 100 ppb are considered significant enough to cause issues as highlighted above.

• Prior to treating the hot tub to remove phosphates, ensure the water is properly balanced with specific focus on the total alkalinity and pH. Ensure both are properly balanced prior to commencing treatment. To ensure phosphates are efficiently removed, it is recommended that your filter cartridge be cleaned prior to treatment with filter cleaner. 

• Use the HotSpring Phosphate remover,  as per the instructions on the bottle. Shake well before applying and add into the filter box. Run your jets on a clean for ten minutes. Ideally, the product should be added in such a way that it goes directly to the filter cartridge. Note: The water may go cloudy after addition - run the pump and filter continuously until clear.

• 48 hours after application, remove the filters and rinse with water. Re- test Phosphate levels and add more remover if needed. 

• Once treatments with Phosphate remover are complete, clean your filter with Filter Cleaner, following label directions.

Prevention: Avoid the use of products which contain phosphates or are phosphate-based (i.e. certain stain and scale control products contain Phosphoric Acid, which reverts to orthophosphate after oxidation). Should your fill water contain a phosphate residual, you can treat periodically with HotSpring Phosphate remover  following the instructions above, to maintain a level that is not problematic.