HOT TUBS NORTHWEST
FreshWater® Salt System
The FreshWater® Salt System is the biggest reason Hot Spring® and Caldera® spas are easier to live with. It turns a small amount of dissolved salt into chlorine automatically, so the water feels softer, you add far fewer chemicals, and you can go up to a year between water changes. This page explains how it works and which spas can run it.
How the Salt System Works
You dissolve a small amount of salt in the water at start-up. From there, a titanium cartridge plumbed into the spa’s circulation converts that salt into chlorine automatically, a little at a time, all day. The spa keeps itself sanitized instead of relying on you to test and dose it by hand.
The cartridge also carries silver, a natural antimicrobial that suppresses bacteria on its own. That lowers how much chlorine the water needs in the first place, which is part of why salt-system water stays so gentle.
When the cartridge is spent, you drop in a new one yourself, no tools and no service call. With normal use and properly balanced water, a cartridge lasts about four months.
Compatible Models
Which Spas Have the Salt System
The FreshWater® Salt System comes standard on the flagship collections and is a factory option on most of the full-size spas we sell.
Included: every Hot Spring® Highlife® and Caldera® Utopia® spa ships with the salt system.
Salt-ready: Hot Spring Limelight® and Hot Spot®, and Caldera Paradise® and Vacanza® models can all run it.
Plug-and-play Freeflow® and Fantasy® spas use the simpler FROG® @ease® cartridge system instead. And because the salt system is built into the spa’s plumbing at the factory, it can’t be added to spas built before 2019.
Compatible Models
Want the Spa to Handle Even More?
FreshWater® IQ builds on the salt system: the spa tests its own water every hour, shows you exactly what it needs on the control panel or your phone, and corrects pH at a tap. It takes the routine from little maintenance down to almost none.
Available on 2024-and-newer Highlife®, Limelight®, Utopia® and Paradise® models.
Explore FreshWater IQ
Salt System FAQ
Here are answers to the questions we hear most about salt water care. The Learning Center covers each one in depth.
Is salt water better than chlorine?
A salt system still sanitizes with chlorine, it just makes it for you from dissolved salt instead of asking you to add it by hand. The water feels softer, you dose far less, and you go up to a year between water changes.
How much maintenance does a salt spa need?
Very little. Replace the titanium cartridge about every four months, rinse the filter on a normal schedule, and check the water now and then. FreshWater® IQ reduces even that by testing hourly and dosing at a tap.
Can I add the salt system to my current hot tub?
If it is a salt-ready Hot Spring® or Caldera® model from 2019 or newer, yes, and we can set it up for you. It can’t be retrofitted to older spas or other brands, because the system is built into the spa’s plumbing at the factory. Bring us your model and we will tell you exactly where you stand.
