Last month we shared the importance of water quality and maintaining a sanitary water environment for the safety of your staff. This month I’ll dig deeper for some Spring Cleaning with your K9 AquaPool and AquaPaws underwater treadmill systems.

AquaPaws underwater treadmills operate using 250 gallons of water for AquaPaws JR and 400 gallons of water for older AquaPaws and newer AquaPaws SS systems. Because of this relatively small amount of water, it “expires” within a few weeks, based on your patient load. Expired water has lost the ability to dissolve chemicals. It reaches a saturation point when it is necessary to discard (drain) the expired water and add fresh water to the water storage tank. Remember, 1 dog = the bather load of 20 people. For comparison, treating 10 dogs per day = 200 people using your home hot tub every day. As a general guideline, if you’re treating 45 dogs per week, drain and refresh your water tank every week. Treating under 45 dogs per week gives you the opportunity to extend to every 2 weeks. Some facilities with a new system that services 10 to 15 patients per week would be ok to extend to a 3 week drain and refill period. Any time past 3 weeks for a water change is not advised regardless of patient numbers.

Three signs your water has expired:

1. The usual amount of chlorine added per day is not registering anymore. You’ve Increased the amount of chlorine for several days and chlorine is still not registering on the test strip.
2. Ph bounce. The pH level has been consistent and will begin to test high or low every day.
3. Sight and smell will not be “up to par.” The quality of the water is poor – cloudy and/or odor present – and not what you are used to experiencing on a regular basis.