January 2006 - UK based specialist independent hot tub retailer, Splash Spas, now selling Aquagarde – a unique, safe and hassle-free hot tub water treatment system

Four Marks, Alton, Hampshire, UK January 26th, 2006

The increasing numbers of hot tub owners in the UK sees more and more people becoming frustrated and tired of the daily ‘grind’ of testing their water and adding more and more environmentally harmful chemicals to it in order to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of their tub. Combine this with the fact that many of these chemicals (Chlorine and Bromine to name two of the most common) have a tendency to dry out the skin and increase the chance of skin allergies occurring, means that hot tub owners are evermore on the look out for a better way of sanitizing their water.

At last this problem has been solved with a brand new water treatment product from Holland, called Aquagarde. Aquagarde has been developed specifically for use in hot tub water where the risk from contracting legionnaire’s disease is already well known. Aquagarde works by destroying the bio-film in the piping and the surfaces of the tub, the primary cause of Legionnella growth. In short, if you destroy the hot tub bio-film you remove the chance of Legionnella growing in the tub and of someone ever contracting Legionnaire’s disease.

In comparison to Aquagarde, traditional hot tub sanitizers such as Chlorine, Bromine and Ozone do not have the ability to break down bio-film. They simply kill off bacteria in the water and in the upper stratum of bio-film. These sanitizers do not eradicate bacteria, they only control it as breeds and grows in the tub leaving the bacteria breeding grounds inside the tubs piping un-cleaned. These traditional sanitizers also require other water qualities such as pH, Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness to be maintained within optimum levels in order for the sanitizer to work effectively and for the water quality to be acceptable. (Water quality relates to how the water looks and feels and it’s ability to damage hot tub components such as the heater and pump). These water quality requirements require ‘balancers’ and ‘adjusters’ to be added to the water, which can be very time consuming and confusing for the owner who, after all, just wants to get in and enjoy himself!.

When Aquagarde is used to sanitize a tub the water doesn’t need any balancing or adjusting. Aquagarde works by ‘conditioning’ both the water in the tub and the tub itself, a process that takes anything from 1 week to 10 days. During this process the biofilm in the tub is destroyed and the limescale/calcium is extracted from the water. Once conditioning has happened, the tub will perform significantly more efficiently and flow through the jets is usually improved. Limescale removal prolongs the life of components and reduces warranty problems. The potential for growth of bacteria in the tub is drastically reduced by the elimination of the bio-film layer. No more impermeable substrata levels of permanent bacteria are being harbored, therefore the hot tub is much safer and easier to care for. Jets and other parts that slowly loose their function due to lime-scale build-up will stay working and performing as they did when new. Perhaps most significantly for the user, Aquagarde provides far more enjoyable bathing, leaving the skin feeling soft and fresh, not dry, smelly or itchy.

For a lot of hot tub owners and retailers, Aquagarde really does sound too good to be true, so to prove it really works the product was given stringent testing and a "Thumbs Up" by KEMA, the most thorough and rigorous International Testing and Certification Institute based in Holland. Only the absolute best receive approval from KEMA.

Aquagarde is now available in the UK from Splash Spas’ hot tub showroom in Hampshire or via their online shop at www.splashspas.com. Splash Spas website has taken over 12 months to develop and not only lists the company’s products for mail order but also provides extensive, easy to read reference information to help prospective customers and hot tub owners understand how to choose, install and maintain a tub and appreciate the many health benefits. These benefits include: stress relief, help for insomnia, the acceleration of the body’s natural healing processes, relief for arthritis and chronic pain and the reduction of blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. The sense of relaxation and well being you get from a twenty-minute dip in a hot tub has to be experienced to be appreciated!