Well, if you are looking up this topic, Aqua Pools offers our condolences. How to clean vomit in a hot tub? This occurrence may not be common, but when it happens you need to know what to do. There are a number of reasons that vomit may get into your hot tub, none of them pleasant. If the unfortunate event does take place, the method of clean-up is fairly straightforward, luckily. The CDC has some helpful tips on how to handle the situation when it occurs in your swimming pool, and the procedure is similar when you need to clean vomit from a hot tub. 

How to Clean Vomit in a Hot Tub

Step 1: Scoop it Out

The most common germs to be found in vomit are noroviruses, which are extremely contagious, causing vomiting and diarrhea to those who are exposed. The first item of business is to clear everyone out of the hot tub (undoubtedly, they will have speedily exited of their own volition).

Next, wearing disposable gloves, remove the vomited material from the hot tub. Using a net skimmer, scoop up as much of the material as possible and dispose of it in a sanitary manner. Never ever use a pool vac for this purpose. The net skimmer will have to be sanitized after you have used it. 

Step 2: Drain the Hot Tub

After you have scooped out the vomit to the best of your ability, you are going to have to drain the hot tub. You know how to do this already since it is part of your basic 3-4 month maintenance routine. As well as completely draining all the water from the hot tub, you will want to flush as much of the piping as possible. 

Step 3: Scrub All Affected Surfaces in the Hot Tub

Keep those disposable gloves handy, we aren’t quite done yet. At this point, any surface that has come in contact with the contaminated water is going to have to be scrubbed. You have done this before, no doubt, and know that it is a bit of a chore. However, it is necessary to remove any trace of a potentially harmful virus. You will also need to clean and flush out the hot tub filter.

Step 4: Refill and Sanitize

Lastly, you will refill the hot tub with fresh water. When the hot tub is full, sanitize as usual to achieve the normal pH level between 7.2 – 7.8 and a free chlorine level of 3 ppm. No one should re-enter the hot tub for at least 30 minutes after these chemical levels have been achieved. Although even though safe to do so, we are betting that no one will be too interested in getting back in the hot tub for some time after that. 

 

We know that having to deal with this particular ordeal of cleaning vomit from a hot tub is not a chore anyone is keen to tackle. Fortunately, aside from the unpleasant task of removing the vomit itself, the cleaning procedure involves tasks that are fairly routine. Aqua Pools wants you to be prepared for the unexpected by having a good supply of all your hot tub chemicals on hand. Check in with our service professionals at either of our locations in Homer Glen and Worth and we will make sure you are ready for anything.