The first commercial hot tubs were made of wooden wine barrels and were difficult to clean and were continually leaking. When the shortcomings of wooden hot tubs became apparent, fiberglass shell hot tubs began to appear on the market around 1970. The gel-coat fiberglass construction had its own drawbacks, and was soon replaced by cast acrylic shells and, for the first time, it was easy for the owner to achieve water cleanliness. Manufacturers installed pumps, filters, control systems and, of course, jets, although the first hot tubs had very few of them
These wooden hot tubs lacked effervescence and bubbles. By 1965, free sprits, “hippies” began flooding the coast of California with little money, and lots of free time on their hands and they started the proliferation of wooden hot tubs. Most of these tubs were homemade with smoke-belching wood fired heaters. Water circulation, filtration, and sanitation were a little hit and miss.
The spa shell is the exterior of the tub, and is composed of a surface and an understructure that are bonded together during the manufacturing process. The surface is the source of the color, look and feel of the spa, so it should resist deterioration due to the sun, spa chemicals, or normal wear and tear. Some high-end shells have special coatings to make them more stain resistant or have anti-bacterial ingredients molded into the shell material.
Roy Jacuzzi took the family’s business in hydrotherapy pumps and invented the first self-contained spa pack and whirlpool bath. As larger units were designed to accommodate several people, Jacuzzi incorporated heating and filtration systems to keep the water warm and clean, thus creating the first spa in 1970. In 1979, the family sold to New York-based Kidde Inc. All the family members left the business or retired, except for Roy, who stayed on to run the Jacuzzi operations.
The Jacuzzi assembly plant is located in Chino, California. This plant was the first ISO 9001 certified hot tub production facility in the world. It had the capability of producing up to 300 spas per day for their domestic and export business needs. Their product line has many unique features such as patented jets, rainbow waterfalls, synthetic sun-resistant siding, stereos, ergonomic seating, triple-layered shells, full foam insulation, and a solid A.B.S. pan bottom.
Artic Spas were located in Barrie ON but for some un-disclosed reason have left and their product line has been replaced with Jacuzzi Hot tubs which has even taken over the old Arctic Spa location. There was some problems with their Ozone package and some complaints about poor service but there is no indication why the sudden departure.
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