White Water Mold - Hot Tub

White water mold is a natural fungus that can form in swimming pools, hot tubs, and even your garden hose. It likes to grow in damp areas, so plumbing, pool toys, filters that are reinstalled wet, and even the garden hose make the perfect environment for it to grow. Seeing these white flakes in your water can indicate a bigger mold problem within your plumbing, as well as problems within your water chemistry, so it’s best to act quickly.

What does white mould look like in hot tubs and pools?

White water mold looks like white flakes floating around the top of your water or along the water line; almost like a shredded, used tissue (it can even be slimy and snotty looking).

Is white mold dangerous?

White water mold itself is more gross than toxic, though it does mean your water is likely inadequately sanitized - not good for soaking. However if this type of mold is left untreated it will wreak havoc on your hot tub water, if it hasn’t already, and can quickly lead to the formation of pink mold - which is dangerous.

What causes white water mold? Can it be prevented?

As we learned earlier, this kind of mold like to live in damp places. With a pool or hot tub, white water mold outbreaks can come from a few places:

• Bathers shed skin cells, body oils, lotions, and a variety of personal care products into the water. If adequate bromine and chlorine levels are not consistently maintained, these pollutants are allowed to mix, grow and an outbreak of mold can occur. Showering (without soap or products) immediately before using the spa can help ease the workload on the filtration system, though sanitizer levels should always be tested and corrected weekly at minimum
• Adding damp filters or toys to your pool or hot tub water can put it at risk for a mold outbreak. Clean all toys/filters regularly and allow them to dry completely before they go back in the water (ideally under the sun, as UV rays act as a natural oxidizer)
• Filling with water from a contaminated garden hose can transfer the mold to your pool/spa water. Examine your hose and nozzle for signs of mold if you think this could be the culprit
• Not regularly cleaning your surface walls, filters, and others components allows mold to breed uninterrupted. Plan for a thorough clean of your spa quarterly (read more on maintenance schedules)

Prevention is key! If you follow these tips and keep up with regular maintenance and care, mold shouldn’t be able to grow within your pool or hot tub.

How do I get white mold out of my water?

It’s important to take time and thoroughly clean your pool or hot tub of any white mold, as any smart particles left behind can grow back into a massive problem. The process is a bit different for pools as opposed to hot tubs.

Removing White Mold from a Hot Tub

Since draining a hot tub is considerably easier than draining a pool, it’s a good idea to flush the moldy water where weather and situations permit in order to make sure the mold is thoroughly cleaned out. Remember to be meticulous in your cleaning to ensure all mold particles are removed. If any spots of mold are missed, it can regrow out of control again quite rapidly and you'll be back to square one, so make sure to triple check your work!

Check that all jets, diverter valves, waterfalls, pipes, and any other water features are fully open and flowing water

Before you start cleaning, take a look at your filters. If they’re newer and in good condition, you can probably just kill the mold on them by doing a chemical filter soak with a filter cleaning agent like the Spa Essentials Filter Cleanser. If they’re over the 1 year mark, looking discoloured or frayed, consider just replacing them. The filter is your first line of defence again bacteria and molds, so especially right now you'll need a filter working at optimal strength

Super chlorinate the water to levels of at least 20ppm for a minimum of 72 hours to kill the mold and bacterias. Check the water every 24 hours to ensure adequate levels of chlorine; during these checks also drain a bit of the super chlorinated water into the spa drain to ensure no mold is alive down there

After the 72 hours have passed, use a pipe cleaner specifically formulated for spas like Pro-Clean Whirlpool Flush to remove the dead bacteria and slime leftover in the pipes. Generally the pipe cleaner will need to circulate through your hot tub with the pumps on high speed for at least an hour before draining (always follow the directions on the bottle of the product you're using)

Fully drain all the water out of your spa to remove all the residue from your spa. Give the shell a good scrub while it's empty to remove any stuck on grime that may have formed using a hot tub cleaner.

Fill the hot tub with fresh water, then circulate shock through the water as you normally would to break down any stubborn biofilm that may be left circulating throughout the plumbing; drain for hopefully the last time.

Fill your spa with fresh water, then power it on while observing the jets to make sure no white flakes are coming out. If you do still see these mold particles, drain the spa and fill it again to flush the plumbing further until you have a spa with clear water.

Put your new/clean and dry filters back into the hot tub.

Chemically balance the water as you normally would after a fresh fill.

Set up a maintenance plan to stay on top of water maintenance! Mold doesn’t show up overnight, so if you’re able to keep a clean spa with balanced water, you should be able to maintain clear and clean water.

Removing White Mold from a Pool

You’ll need to shock the pool to kill the mold which can only be done when the sun has gone down, so plan accordingly before starting.

Clean your filtration system as you normally would. There’s likely mold in here and we’ll want to remove the surface layer of gunk first (we’ll do a more thorough clean later)

Test your pool water and make sure chemical levels are balanced, specifically the pH (don't worry about the sanitizer levels as we're about to super chlorinate, but do make a note of where it's at - inadequate levels could by why the mold formed in the first place)

Shock the pool to super chlorinate the water; you’ll need to use 3-4 times the normal amount of shock in order to get adequate levels of chlorine to kill off the mold

Clean the surface of your pool using a stiff brush, as well as scrub in all around jets, skimmers, ladders and parts to make sure no mold is lurking around

Leave water to circulate throughout the pool for at least 24 hours to allow for the super chlorination to work and the scrubbed off mold to circulate into the filter

Brush the pool surfaces again; you may have missed some mold particles or more may have settled back into nooks and crannies while water was circulating. We don’t want to leave any mold particles left behind in the pool.

Vacuum the pool manually to thoroughly clean the water; have your garden hose handy to top up if the water line gets too low.

Clean your filter again, this time using a chemical cleaner such as Filter Perfect to deeply clean your filtration media of bacteria

Test and balance the water. Then test and balance the water again, and again. Ensure pH, alkalinity and chlorine are always strictly within range, and develop a routine maintenance schedule to ensure levels remain consistent so the problem doesn’t repeat

Watch for white mold in the next coming days - it’s possible you missed a spot, even with the most thorough cleaning. Run the pump and clean the pool often, just to ensure no particles are left behind idle to grow

Mold is one of the more tedious problems to solve, so preventing it is always the goal. Remember to keep on top of your chemical levels and follow your maintenance routine for beautifully clear, clean water.

When and how will my order ship?

Orders placed before 10am EST Monday to Friday excluding holidays typically ship same day for items in stock at one of our shipping facilities. Most orders leave the warehouse within 48 hours during business days. If item(s) on your order are back ordered or sold out before your order can be filled, a follow up email will be sent to you. Any orders with Special Order items will ship when the Special Order items arrive at the shipping depot.

Once your order has shipped the tracking information will be included in your Shipping Confirmation email. Please note that it can take up to 48 hours for the shipping company to update online tracking information. We ship using multiple delivery partners including Canada Post Expedited Parcel, UPS, and Purolator. Orders with a PO Box or Rural Route address ship via Canada Post only. Items may be shipped from multiple locations and arrive in separate packages and on different days.

Free Ground Shipping

Free shipping is available on orders of $69 before tax to most locations in Canada, excluding Nunavut, Yukon, Northwest Territories, remote/beyond zones. Pool & Hot Tub Depot will select the most cost-effective carrier for orders eligible for free shipping to your area, typically Canada Post Expedited ground shipping. Alternative shipping options are available at checkout for an additional fee.

$9.00 Flat Rate Standard Ground Shipping

$9.00 Flat rate standard ground shipping is available on orders under $69 before tax to most locations in Canada, excluding Nunavut, Yukon, Northwest Territories, remote/beyond zones. Pool & Hot Tub Depot will choose the most economical carrier for orders under $69 before tax that have paid the $9 flat-rate shipping fee, usually Canada Post Expedited Ground. Other shipping options can be selected at checkout for an extra cost.

UPS Standard Shipping

UPS Standard is a cost-effective, reliable ground shipping option, available for an additional fee at checkout to select areas in Canada that UPS serves. Please note that the transit time for the package is tracked by UPS starting from the day the order is picked up at the warehouse in London, Ontario, not from the day the order is placed online or by phone. UPS delivery business days are Monday to Friday 9am up to 8pm. All Canadian holidays are excluded and do not count as a business day.

UPS Express Shipping

UPS next business day* delivery is available for an additional fee at checkout to select areas in Canada that UPS serves. Please note that the transit time for the package is tracked by UPS starting from the day the order is picked up at the warehouse in London, Ontario, not from the day the order is placed online or by phone. *UPS delivery business days are Monday to Friday 9am up to 8pm. All Canadian holidays are excluded and do not count as a business day.

In-Store Pickup

In-store pickup is available at the London, Ontario location only. You will be notified via email when your order is available for pick-up. Please wait for the email as your order may not be available for pick up earlier. Orders that have not been picked up within 30 days of the order date may be cancelled and refunded to the original method of payment.

Remote and Airstage Locations

As determined by Canada Post and or UPS, areas considered remote, that receive infrequent mail service or where mail must be airlifted are ineligible for free shipping or $9.00 flat rate shipping. Remote areas are listed in Table 9 and the Air Stage Locations list is available here. Shipping costs to any of these areas is calculated by weight and size of the order, please add the desired items to the cart and enter your postal code in the shipping calculator of the shopping cart.

Shipping Outside Canada

Poolandhottubdepot.com only ships within Canada. Unfortunately we are not able to export our products to any other countries.

Cancellations

Should the need arise to cancel an order after it’s been placed, we will do our best to accommodate your request. Please get in touch with our Customer Care team as soon as possible, ways to contact us can be found here. Once your order moves into the awaiting shipment stage in our warehouse, we may no longer be able to cancel it. Should this be the case, we can help facilitate a return upon delivery (excluding final sale items).

Returns for eligible products are accepted within 30 days of delivery.

Products that have been used, installed, connected or tried for troubleshooting cannot be returned. Additionally, any items labeled as non-refundable or final sale are also ineligible for return. Please contact our Customer Care team to initiate your return.

We cannot accept any returns from products in the following categories:

• Inflatables & Toys
• Electronic / Electrical items such as: Fuses, Relays, breakers, sensors, heaters, capacitors, transformers - power supply units, circuit boards, spa control packs, ozone / UV systems, keypads, thermostats, sauna heaters(all models), pressure switches etc.
• All electronic parts for pool heaters, VS pool pumps and automation controls
• LED lights, LED light controllers and light bulbs
• All pool heaters and heat pumps
• Consumable goods such as chemicals, liquids, tablets or granules used to balance and maintain pool or hot tub water, spa fragrances, etc
• All Glue, Sealants and Silicone
• Items noted as: Clearance, Final Sale or Overstocked
• Special or custom order parts such as hot tub covers, 3” plumbing
• Items which have been removed from their original packaging, assembled, installed, used or modified
• Any items marked as non-returnable on the product page
• Any individual part(s) removed from a kit, bundle or a factory assembled product
• Any product received as a warranty replacement

Have questions or need help with the manufacturers warranty for an item purchased from us? Click here for full details

If you would like to make a return request, please Contact Us with your order number, the item(s) that you would like to return, and the reason for the return. One of our friendly Customer Care team members will help you as soon as possible with the next steps!

Items shipped back without contacting us for a return authorization (RMA) will be refused at the warehouse and returned to you as they are not trackable in our system. Items shipped back to an order fulfilment centre in B.C. or Alberta will be refused as they cannot be tracked in our system and they do not accept or process returns. Please contact us before sending any items to ensure a smooth return process.

Are there restocking fees?

Most returns have no restocking fees with the following exceptions:

• All pool cleaners that qualify for return are subjedt to 10% restocking fee. (only if the box is still factory sealed in the same condition as recieved).
• All pool sand and cartridge style filters that qualify for return are subjedt to 15% restocking fee.

Shipments returned to us due to an incorrect address or failure to pick up the package will be automatically cancelled and refunded less shipping charges when they are received back. Shipments returned due to delivery refusal or return to sender are subject to a 25% (min $25.00) restocking and handling fee. Shipping charges are not refundable. All returns, refunds and restocking fees are at the discretion of Pool and Hot Tub Depot on a case by case basis.

Have an issue with your order?

In the rare event that any items in your order were received damaged, incorrect or are missing please let us know within 2 business days from delivery so we can help sort it out. Any concerns with the quality of any products must be reported within 5 business days from delivery. In most cases we will require a picture of the issue, please contact us as soon as possible.

Refunds

You should expect to receive your refund within 7 to 14 days after we receive your package and confirm acceptance of the returned product; however, in many cases, you will receive a refund sooner. A refund can only be sent back to the original payment method. If a customer no longer has access to the payment method used for the original payment, they need to contact their bank or the responsible party for the original payment to claim the funds after a refund has been issued.

Please Note

Refunds for orders placed using split payment and/or financing services (i.e. AfterPay, Sezzle, PayBright, ShopPay etc) will have an additional 8% payment processing fee(s) deducted from the refund due to the non-refundable service charge(s) these payment methods incur.