After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Jane Weeks couldn’t take living in New York City anymore. It wasn’t just the psychological aspect of living in an apartment that was less than a mile from Ground Zero; there were also health implications. Weeks was getting sick from breathing the air, which was filled with smoke, dust and debris from the burning towers.
Weeks decided to move to Truckee, where she’s had a home since 2001. But she soon discovered that a local custom, hot tubbing, was also making her sick.
‘I was so compromised after 9-11, I couldn’t handle any fumes,’ she said.
A friend turned her on to a natural hot tub cleaning system, and Weeks was able to enjoy hot tubing without feeling ill. She’s been on a mission ever since to educate hot tub owners about the health and environmental hazards of traditional chemicals used to maintain hot tubs, and even made it her career. She’s the owner of ahhNatural, an online company that sells the non-toxic hot tub maintenance product her friend recommended. But are hot tub chemicals as big a cause for concern as Weeks believes? Local environmental organizations and hot tub stores and owners are not so sure.
Chlorine is the Culprit
Weeks is most worried about the impacts of dumping hot tub water onto the ground. This is usually done after cleaning the tub with either chlorine or bromine, the two chemicals most often used in hot tub maintenance. When mixed with organic compounds in water, chlorine can form trihalomethanes (THMs), which are carcinogens. THMs do not degrade well, and can be harmful to fish or other aquatic life.
‘What happens when you throw the water out?’ asks Weeks. ‘It gets into the groundwater and can be very carcinogenic and destroys the microbiology of the earth.’
In Tahoe, where there are a high number of rental homes with hot tubs, Weeks said this is especially cause for concern.
Owners may put a big ‘shock’ of chemicals into the tub after a particularly hard-partying group has used it, and then drain the spa. While the average homeowner probably drains his hot tub three to four times a year, Weeks said some rental property owners dump the tub after every use.
Add to that the amount of water people use when showering after a soak to get rid of the smell or feel of chemicals on their skin, and Weeks said that equals a lot of wasted water.
‘As a resource, water should be cherished and every drop really counts,’ said Weeks, who would like to see hot tub water recycled as gray water for use in landscaping.
On top of environmental concerns, Weeks is worried about adverse health effects. Chlorinated water is a skin irritant that has been associated with rashes, eczema and red eyes. It can also irritate the respiratory system and aggravate asthma, especially in children. Bathing in Jacuzzis maintained with chlorine or bromine sanitizers dried out Weeks’ skin and the fumes made her nauseous.
Nothing to Get Hot Over
But not everyone shares Weeks’ qualms about hot tub water. Even in an environmentally sensitive region like Tahoe, this issue is not at the top of the list for environmental organizations. Neither the League to Save Lake Tahoe nor the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has a specific policy on the disposal of hot tub water.
‘Hot tubs aren’t going to cause a lot of problems,’ said TRPA spokesman Dennis Oliver. ‘If you dumped every hot tub in Tahoe into the lake, it would be like putting a thimble of water into an Olympic-size swimming pool.’
However, both organizations urge hot tub owners to use common sense and not drain their tubs near watersheds or lakes.
Similarly, Mountain Home Center co-owner Tom Just advises his clients to use their heads when maintaining their hot tubs.
After treating a spa with chlorine, people should wait two days before draining the tub in order to allow the chlorine to dissipate.
‘After 48 hours, chlorine is inert in hot water,’ said Just. ‘It gasses off. Chlorine does not stay active in hot water.’
The key, Just said, is to test chlorine levels in the tub before dumping it out.
Just said that most of his customers don’t even use chlorine or bromine to clean their hot tubs, but a combination of mono-persulphates, ozone purification systems and silver ion cartridges.
‘In 16 years, I haven’t heard any horror stories,’ he said.
Andrew Koijane, who uses chlorine to clean the hot tub at his West Shore rental, doesn’t have that many reservations about using the chemical either. He said he’s been draining the tub in the same spot around four times a year for over five years and hasn’t noticed any trees or landscaping dying. However, Koijane said he usually empties the tub when it’s dirty and before he chlorinates it.
Although his wife Renee won’t go in the spa anymore since it caused an eczema breakout each time she took a dip, Koijane isn’t that worried about the health affects of chlorine.
‘We drink the stuff, right?’ he said. ‘How bad can it be?’
Other hot tub owners, however, are more wary than Koijane. Andrea Walhof used chlorine to sanitize her hot tub at her Glenshire home for two years, but hated the smell and the way it dried out her skin. She also didn’t feel quite right about draining the water into her yard.
‘Whenever I drained it, I thought, ‘This cannot be good,’’ she said.
Two years ago, Walhof switched to ahhNatural, which uses a pad filled with copper, zinc and a volcanic rock, all naturally occurring minerals. Walhof said she has been much happier ever since. The odor is gone and her skin feels better after a soak.
In fact, she is so confident in the quality of the water that one year she drained it into her vegetable and herb garden. Walhof said the homegrown veggies in her salad, and the mint in her mojito, tasted great.
