In addition to giving you a valid reason to have people over, a hot tub provides a lovely environment to catch up with friends and family. Unless of course you have a no food or drink policy (and let’s be real, who wants to be that person?), you should expect spills to take place. Let’s face it, heat amplifies the effect of alcohol, therefore your guests’ motor skills will doubtfully improve as the night wears on.
We’ve been there, something draws the attendee’s attention, their hand flails with their drink and you start to watch your perfectly cold that vanish into your closely cared-for water. You may want to panic, take a deep breath.
Spills, Splashes and Survival: Your Hot Tub’s Liquid Love Life
That heart-in-your-throat moment when a drink tips over into your hot tub is not the catastrophe it may feel. Watching that beer, wine or cocktail dissolve into your clean water is cringey, but your hot tub’s filtration system is going to withstand it.
The vast majority of common beverages aren’t a threat to your hot tub’s chemistry. A beer loses its fizz quickly and very little yeast to upset your water chemistry. Wine is primarily just water with organic compounds that your filtration system can process without sweat. Clear spirits like vodka and gin can evaporate pretty quickly to leave you with minimal evidence.
This is where the damage might be done (and even more painful).
The real enemies are those tropical slushies and sweet mixed drinks your friends love to share by the water. You know the type — the Instagram-ready drinks topped with multiple pieces of fruit and enough syrup to host a pancake breakfast. These drinks create a completely different situation, typically leaving behind a rainbow-colored sheen of fruit oils and sticky deposits floating across the top, like some type of cannibal lava lamp.
While this floating situation appears alarming, this floating film is more aesthetic than mechanical. But try to take care of it sooner rather than later to avoid possible filter clogging and the inevitable script and awkward conversation with the next guest that asks why your hot tub looks like a tropical fish tank.
Recovery Action Plan
Inside of a normal spill, recovery is easy. Start by removing any solids like fruit pieces, olives, or the little umbrellas (seriously, why do people put umbrellas in a hot tub?). Then turn on the jets for 15 minutes to help distribute the product throughout your system. In this case, circulation works in your favor.
The following day, you will want to add a limited shock treatment – around half of your normal dose will work. In fact, we found full strength, right away, creates more issues than it solves, especially when you discuss issues of organic’s from wine or fruit drinks.
Screen your water after a couple of hours, and it will mostly test the same as before. Most likely you will see your alkalinity and pH levels slightly lower. To deal with fruity cocktail spills that could get a little more challenging:
- Drain the tub (yes, the party is suspended).
- When the oils are still floating, skim off the top of the water – if you wait long enough, it will be more work.
- If you use an enzyme maintenance product, you will want to use it now. They will break down organic material (the culprit who is making your tub scummy and water nasty) and prevent harsh treatments.
- If you are dumping the whole piña colada in the tub, cream of coconut and all, then get ready to partially drain and refill, it’s bad but sometimes necessary.
Prevention: Easier than Clean up
It’s easier to prevent, then to cleanup. Honestly, it’s more for your own peace of mind.
Proper placement of drinks and their containers can eliminate most spillings. Maybe purchase drink holders that attach to the tub. They are inexpensive and work out nicely. Also glass containers, you might want to avoid and use durable plastic drink containers instead (we will discuss glass which has its own dilemmas in a moment).
Keep drinks away from the water and just throw away the fancy tropical looking drink that looks like it was crafted at a tiki bar. Just enjoy fun drinks inside the house in a dry space, so when you spill it just means you grab a towel.
Your hot tub can have very minor spills without draining and refilling the tub. The key is to act quickly and understand spilling drinks needs a different process. Keep a test strip handy, laugh about it, and keep in mind that someday you’ll have a hilarious story to tell when you get together.
In need of a new hot tub that can stand the abuse of your entertaining? See our 2-Person Hot Tub section or check out The Whole Beachcomber Lineup for one that fits your space perfectly.
Do You Have to Drain the Hot Tub on a Little Spill?
Short answer — nope.
Fortunately, you don’t have to drain the hot tub when it comes to beer or wine spills. We get that question all the time — usually, it’s a panicked hot tub owner watching a guest’s drink swim in the hot tub.
Consider the volume of beer or wine in a drink (6-12 ounces average) compared to the hot tub’s overall capacity (250-400 gallons), a little shock treatment the next day will restore chemical balance without the drama.
Fruity drinks may require a temporary drain and fill. That colorful slick on the water surface will froth and foam when you start the jets, and beyond looking nasty, it will also reduce your sanitizer efficacy.
But typically, it’s just skimming and treating, not draining.
When Glass and Hot Tubs Collide: A Serious Safety Concern
Now we need to address the most harmful hot tub party foul — and it’s not spilling your drink. It’s dropping the vessel that held the drink. A broken glass in a hot tub is a particularly dangerous situation that needs to be addressed immediately and comprehensively. We have seen too many people attempt to just “fish out the big pieces” and call it good. Do not do this.
The first thing to recognize is the hazard. The refractive qualities of water disguise glass pieces/ shards when submerged, which is a very unsafe space for anyone to step into that tub later. Then, add the hot tub jets and let’s be honest, Hot tub jets are like Time Tunnels for glass pieces. The purpose of jets is to propel water at high rate of speed, with the same principals at work for solid glass pieces (of varying size). Jets toss glass pieces about the tub, force glass into hard-to-reach box corners and crevices, force glass pieces into the filtration system, and the circulation patterns of the tub keep glass suspended and moving in glass soup.
Glass injury risks are high. Deep cuts that require stitches, small puncture wounds that turn quickly into nasty infections, glass in feet and legs, even possible damage to a pump that costs thousands to replace.
So, What to Do?
Sadly, when glass breaks in a hot tub there is only one safe way forward. Drain and clean thoroughly. We get it. That is not what you wanted to hear. Especially if it is during a party. And this is why partial measures are useless. The problem with the flowing water, the many jets, and different recessed areas to which those jets direct the water is that there is no way to have 100% confidence you have removed all shard pieces of glass without exactly completely draining the tub. Even a barely noticeable small shard piece of glass you left is capable of delivering serious injury and/or damage to your hot tub filtration system. We have had a couple customers who were absolutely convinced that they have picked up all the glass shards only to discover that weeks later that they were running their filter cartridge and found glass shards “embedded” in their filter cartridge.
Trust us, you should listen to us on this. The risk is not worth it.
Prevention Protocol
Setting down rules about glass in and around your hot tub isn’t being uptight. It’s being smart. Use plastic cups, acrylic wine glasses, insulated drinking containers and non-breakable serving containers to use for hot tub parties.
We recommend to have a specific “hot tub bar setup”, with everything guests needed available in shatterproof container. Many hot tub owners have storage cabinets close by with supply of glasses and containers, towels and stuff.
Smart hot tub owners are aware that a no-glass policy is not a guideline. It’s a safety investment. Nobody wants to put off the hang-out with an emergency drain, or even worse, an emergency room visit.
Lastly, if you do find yourself in the awkward world of broken glass mess in your hot tub, the first thing we recommend is to turn off all jets and evacuate all bathers immediately. If that is not possible, call it a party early, before any other injury or catastrophic or costly damage to your hot tub components occur.
A Refreshed Perspective on Drinking in a Hot Tub…
We understand it here up north in Canada. When the temperature outside is -30 degrees celsius and the hot tub is bubbling with steam like a hot maple syrup kettle, nothing beats cooling down with a cold beverage ice wine. It’s basically a veritable pastime, like kicking back in the hot tub by yourself, apologizing when someone bumps your vehicle on ice and judging the next ordered serving of Tim Hortons.
Even with the hardy Canucks we must admit some realities. This cold air and hot tub just does havoc on that system and throw in alcohol there and you must be playing hockey without a helmet as your strategy.
The science behind this is simple: hot water causes your blood to circulate better and your blood vessels to open creating the effect of faster blood being absorbed and harder hits. Combine that with fluid loss via heat and sweating and the end product is never a good situation.
To mitigate our typical hot tub experiences up here, be sure to keep your drinks in insulated holders (no one likes warm beer or icy fingers). Have a designated hot tub spotter who is drinking only Sprite or water (someone is monitoring everything). Limit soak periods to 15-20 minutes with a cool down period before getting back in. Drink water in between beverage – you are sweating like a snowman melting in July, so hydration is important.
