How Much Water Loss is Normal in a Hot Tub?

As high maintenance as it may seem, there’s so much to love about soaking in your hot tub.  Relaxing and soothing, it’s the thing you look forward to the most after a hard and tough day, right?  One of the things you may notice one day is that the water seems low.  As far as you know, everything’s okay, but perhaps the water line is lower than you think it should be.  What’s going on?  Is water loss normal in a hot tub?  Take a look below and find out!

Is needing to add more water normal?
    Just like a pool, there is a need to add water from time to time to your hot tub.  Since your hot tub is exposed, water will evaporate and this water will need to be replaced from time to time.  The water that you put in your hot tub doesn’t just stay there forever, and you will have to add more in no matter what.

Is water loss normal?
    Yup, water loss is considered normal when it comes to evaporation.  The standard rate for water loss is about 1 inch a week.  This means that, hypothetically, you should add 1 inch a week to keep it at the same level constantly.  Of course, you don’t need to be that specific or attentive to it.  But, the rate of 1 inch a week is considered normal.  If you want to make sure that your water loss is normal, and that there’s no problem, you can measure it and see if that lines up!

What could excessive water loss mean?
    If you find that you’re losing, say, 2+ inches per week for water loss in your hot tub, it could be an indicator that something else is going on.  The most likely scenario is that you have some sort of undetected leak, since it’s not exactly logical that someone is grabbing your hot tub water with a pitcher (yuck!).
    That’s part of why understanding “normal” water loss and “abnormal” water loss is so important!  When you notice that is faster than normal, you can call in the pros and get a feel for what’s going on with your hot tub and get a repair done before it gets too expensive (in terms of water pricing and the repair and other damage itself).

How to minimize water loss
    Since water does have a price tag, you can look at minimizing your water loss as much as possible.  Some of the best tips include:

• Invest in a good, well-fitting cover: Most hot tubs have covers, but you’ll want to take a bit of time to get a feel for the fit.  The tighter the fit, the better the protection from evaporation.

• Consider turning the temperature down a little bit: You can also help minimize evaporation by turning the temperature down a degree or two or even three.  You won’t notice it as far as the temperature in how it feels, but it will help minimize water evaporation.

• Minimize splashing: Obvious, perhaps, but worth a thought!  If the kids love to splash, put them in the hot tub instead of the hot tub!  

    While water evaporation is important to understand for the thoughtful hot tub owner, minimizing it is easier than you’d think!