When my dad started the business in 1980 he certainly never had the vision that one day we'd be the 2nd largest Pacific Spas dealer in BC and sell more hot tubs on Vancouver Island than anybody aside from one Victoria dealer but we were. I never had thought that Pacific Spas could ever shut down do to lack of business 3 years ago but they did. And I never thought hot tub sales could drop as much as they have, but they have! However, in changing times and with an economy as poor as Campbell River right now a business person must change with those times and that's what we're doing! March 10th, Clarks...The Water Shop will close and lock the door on our retail showroom. But that doesn't mean we're closing our doors, well I guess in the literal sense it does. However we are still going to sell and install everything we always have. When you need parts, water treatment for your pool or hot tub etc. we are going to deliver those things to your door at no charge! We'll do onsite water testing, pool maintenance, hot tub maintenance and so on. Our irrigation department is gearing up for a busy season and aside from not having an open store front nothing else is changing! Are we still going to sell hot tubs? Of course we are. We'll be in the home shows, and do a few other hot tub sale days in Campbell River and all year long by appointment. Clarks...The Water Shop is here to stay. 32 years strong in Campbell River and we're not going anywhere! Call us at 250-286-1085 or email me any time at info@clarksthewatershop.com

Thanks for reading,

Glen Clark

People often ask bromine or chlorine….which is better in a hot tub? The answer, is it depends. It depends on usage. However, if I hd to answer with one or the other it would be bromine. Why? A few reasons. Chlorine is harsh, very strong, dissolves way faster, and has a stronger smell. Smell however, is a bit of a myth. If your tub hasn't been oxidized or "shocked" as we call it you will get a strong smell with either product. This then tends to make people think that their sanitizer is too high, whereas it is probably not high enough and it simply needs to be shocked. Sorry, got going on smell there. Bromine: Dissolves slower (I'm talking tablets), less smell, softer on skin (not as harsh), and the best thing is, it is regenerative. What does that mean? When you use a sanitizer it does it's job and then leaves behind what's called chlorimines, or bromamines. These are useless little microscopic pieces of chlorine or bromine that need to be oxidized off, as mentioned above we refer to this as shocking. When you shock to burn off the chloramines, they're simply gone. When you burn off the bromamines, some of them are actually regenerated and become active one again. This cuts down on the usage, which also means you go through less which + less cost. Hope this clears it up for those wondering. 

Over the years, I've had people come in and complain that they get a "hot tub rash". There are many reasons one can get an irritation on their skin from a hot tub, and I'm not going to go into all of that in this blog. What I will say is there is an an answer, or at least potentially. Several of our customers have tried the new product Aqua Finesse. It is a product that in essence cleans your tub from the inside out. What does that mean? It removes any biofilm from your piping, pumps, filter housing, spa surface, etc. It removes the film that bacteria can attach and survive on....don't give it a home, it won't grow, it will die, and it won't hurt you! Proof: I have several customers that had given up using their tub because of the skin irritation that are now hot tubbing again, and are happy they've taken the plunge to Aqua Finesse. Ask us all about it! 

When I started in this industry 20 years ago, my dad and I would buy hot tub shells. That is, a shell that has no plumbing, no nothing. Just a shell. We'd then customize what a client wanted, as in how many jets and where they wanted the jets. We'd drill the holes, install the jets, plumb the tub, insulate & skirt them if a customer wanted us to (a lot did it themselves) and then install a pump, heater, filter etc. Our standard jet package was a 6 jet or 8 jet package. Then the packaged spas really took over the market and the days of the custom shell were gone. The basic packaged hot tub was about 16 jets. Over the last 20 years I've seen things really go full circle, where hot tub manufacturers  where in the war of the jets! I saw as many as 87 jets go in to a hot tub, which we joked at the time as to how there were more jets than there was acrylic shell left. Nowadays, customers coming in are saying that they really like the hot water, a little massage, and the quietness of a simple system. I guess what I'm really saying is that there are trends even in the hot tub industry and right now the trend is simple and efficient. But at one time, when it came to hot tubs it was all about my hot tub having more jets than yours! 

Hot tub covers: The high winds and storms we have had here in Campbell River in the last couple of weeks makes me wonder how many hot hub covers have taken flight. There are several ways to lock down a cover. Some covers come with sewn on straps that have little plastic clips, but these are generally not strong enough for a typical high wind situation. They are also easily ripped off of your cover if the wind does catch it, or if someone opens the cover not knowing they're there. Get yourself a set of "hurricane straps". Now the name is a little misleading as I don't think they would hold down a loaf of bread in an actual hurricane, but for the pretend hurricanes we get in Campbell River these straps have proven to be strong enough. 

Welcome to our new site. We are constantly working on things so check back often. Why a new site? Our old site which had full online shopping with a cart system was hacked, and someone was using it for phishing to try to entice people to provide their credit card information, and I'm sure you can imagine how pleasant that was. So, we quickly removed it and although that was very dramatic we're excited about the possibilities of our new site. So thank you for checking us out and please come back!