New Spa Owner Guide: How to Set Up, Balance and Maintain Your Spa Water
Buying a new spa is exciting, but for many first-time owners, looking after the water can seem like the complicated part.
The good news is that spa water care doesn’t need to be difficult.
A simple routine of sanitising, testing, balancing and keeping your filters clean will prevent many of the most common spa water problems before they begin.
This guide takes you through what to do when you first fill your spa, the water levels you should be watching, the chemicals you may need and an easy ongoing maintenance routine.
Before adding chemicals to your spa
There are a few important things to remember whenever treating your spa water:
- Keep the spa cover fully open
- Make sure the water is circulating
- Always follow the current chemical product label
- Add treatment products separately rather than mixing them together
Following these basic steps helps the chemicals disperse correctly through the spa water.
Step 1: Fill your spa through the filter intake
When filling your spa for the first time, follow the instructions in your spa owner's manual.
For many portable spas, this involves removing one of the filters and placing the garden hose into the filter intake while filling.
Doing this helps water enter the plumbing system correctly before the spa is started.
Once the spa reaches the recommended fill level, remove the hose and refit the filter.
Step 2: Start the spa and begin heating
Turn the spa on and check that water is circulating normally.
You can then set your preferred temperature and allow the spa to begin heating.
Good circulation is particularly important when chemicals are being added because it helps distribute them throughout the water.
Step 3: Add your spa sanitiser
Your sanitiser is one of the most important parts of your spa water-care routine.
For customers using BioGuard Armour, add the required amount according to the current Armour product label and the volume of your spa.
Keep the cover open and the water circulating while dosing.
BioGuard Armour acts as both a sanitiser and oxidiser, helping maintain safe spa water while also oxidising organic waste.
Step 4: Test your spa water
Once the spa is circulating, use a fresh spa test strip and follow the instructions supplied with the strips.
The three main water-balance readings we recommend checking are:
| Water test | Recommended range |
|---|---|
| pH | 7.2–7.8 |
| Ideal pH | 7.4–7.6 |
| Total Alkalinity | 80–120 ppm |
| Total Hardness | 100–225 ppm |
These are the target ranges used in our new spa owner guide.
Keeping your water within these ranges isn't just about how the water looks. Balanced water also helps protect important spa components including pumps, heaters and spa surfaces.
Step 5: Balance the spa water
If one of your test results is outside its recommended range, use the appropriate water-balancing product and follow the directions on its current label.
The main adjustments you may need to make are:
Total Alkalinity
Total Alkalinity helps stabilise the water and reduces sudden changes in pH.
For portable spas, BioGuard Performance Up is used to raise Total Alkalinity when required.
pH too high
If the pH is too high, BioGuard Aquality is used as a pH decreaser.
Reducing excessively high pH can help minimise scaling and water discomfort.
pH too low
If the pH is too low, BioGuard Comfort Up is used as a pH increaser.
Correcting low pH helps improve comfort while helping protect spa equipment.
Total Hardness too low
BioGuard Shield raises calcium hardness to help protect spa surfaces, heaters and associated equipment.
These products and their purposes are summarised in the chemical reference section of our customer care guide.
Step 6: Let the water circulate and test again
After making an adjustment, allow the product to circulate through the spa before testing the water again.
Avoid continually adding more chemicals without first giving the previous treatment time to circulate and retesting the water.
If you're struggling to get your water balanced, you don't need to guess.
You can bring a spa water sample into either our Kings Meadows or Glenorchy showroom for free water testing.
Find your nearest Pool & Spa World Tasmania showroom
A simple ongoing spa maintenance routine
Once your spa water has been established, consistency is much more important than making spa care complicated.
Most spa water problems are easier to prevent than correct.
Our recommended basic routine is:
After use or as directed — maintain sanitiser
Maintain your sanitiser according to the current BioGuard Armour label.
Remember to keep the cover open and the water circulating whenever dosing.
Every week — test and balance your water
Check:
- pH
- Total Alkalinity
- Total Hardness
Adjust anything outside the recommended range according to the relevant product label.
Every week — clean your spa filters
Remove your pleated cartridge filters and rinse them thoroughly using a normal garden hose.
Regular rinsing helps remove dirt and debris before it becomes heavily embedded in the filter media.
Every month — chemically clean your filters
Use Filter Renew monthly to help release built-up oils and residue from the cartridge filter media.
Simply rinsing your filter removes loose debris, whereas Filter Renew provides a deeper clean.
Every 3–6 months — pipe clean, drain and refill
Depending on how frequently the spa is used, we recommend periodically cleaning the plumbing before draining the spa.
BioGuard Swirl Away is used before draining to help clean the internal pipework and loosen built-up residue.
Once the treatment has been completed:
- Drain the spa according to your spa owner's manual.
- Refill the spa.
- Repeat the start-up and balancing process described above.
This maintenance schedule comes directly from the ongoing-care routine in our customer guide.
What do the different spa chemicals actually do?
One of the more confusing parts of owning a spa can simply be working out which bottle does what.
Here is the quick version.
BioGuard Armour
Sanitiser + oxidiser
Used for regular day-to-day sanitising while also helping oxidise organic waste.
BioGuard Spa Purity
Shock / oxidiser
Used to oxidise bather waste, freshen the water and improve clarity. It is commonly used as a weekly shock treatment.
BioGuard Performance Up
Total Alkalinity increaser
Raises Total Alkalinity and helps stabilise pH.
BioGuard Aquality
pH decreaser
Lowers high pH.
BioGuard Comfort Up
pH increaser
Raises low pH.
BioGuard Shield
Calcium hardness increaser
Raises calcium hardness to help protect spa surfaces, heaters and other equipment.
Filter Renew
Filter cleaner
Helps remove built-up oils and residue from cartridge filters.
BioGuard Swirl Away
Spa pipe cleaner
Used before draining to help clean internal spa plumbing and loosen residue.
What about swim spas?
The basic water-care principles are very similar, but swim spas contain considerably more water, so some products are supplied in larger pack sizes or use the equivalent BioGuard pool-style product names.
For example, our guide identifies common swim spa products including:
- BioGuard Armour 2kg – sanitiser and oxidiser
- BioGuard Lite 450g – shock, oxidiser and clarifier
- BioGuard Balance Pak 100 – Total Alkalinity increaser
- BioGuard Lo'N'Slo – pH decreaser
- BioGuard Balance Pak 200 – pH increaser
- BioGuard Balance Pak 300 – calcium hardness increaser
- Filter Renew – filter cleaner
- BioGuard Swirl Away – pipe cleaner before draining
Although the product names and pack sizes may differ, the role each chemical plays in maintaining the water is broadly the same.
Four spa-care habits worth remembering
If you only remember a few things from this guide, make them these:
- Keep your spa cover open while adding treatment chemicals.
- Run the circulation system while dosing.
- Follow current product labels rather than old handwritten dosing instructions.
- Hose-clean your filters weekly and use Filter Renew monthly.
A regular routine makes spa ownership much easier and can prevent many of the water problems that occur when maintenance is allowed to build up.
Need help with your spa water?
If your spa water isn't behaving the way you expect, bring a water sample into Pool & Spa World Tasmania.
We offer free in-store water testing at both our Kings Meadows and Glenorchy showrooms and can help you work out what your water needs.
Visit our Kings Meadows or Glenorchy showrooms
Or browse our range of:
Pool, Spa & Swim Spa Chemicals
Keeping your spa water healthy doesn't need to be complicated. Test regularly, make adjustments when they're needed and stick to a simple maintenance routine.