Customers wanted a once-a-month, nontraditional water care treatment for swim spas, so Waters Choice developed its Pure Enzymes for Swim Spas product, launched in 2020.
“Customers are looking for a more natural way to take care of their swim spas that is simple to maintain and effective,” says Tom Vaughan, president of Waters Choice in Boise, Idaho. “We tried to accommodate them with our other products, and it was difficult — it is too costly to use [traditional] spa products and swim spas are too small for our pool products. As the swim spa market grew, we saw a need to create a product specifically for [swim spas].”
Tracey Washburn, master water consultant at Tropical Bullfrog Spas in St. George, Utah, has been selling Waters Choice Pure Enzymes on the showroom floor for over a year. “Our consumers are new swim spa owners and can be overwhelmed by chemicals as a whole,” Washburn says. “They love it when we tell them there is a more natural enzyme choice. Pure Enzymes is much easier to use and maintain than other choices on the market.”
Our consumers are new swim spa owners and can be overwhelmed by chemicals as a whole. They love it when we tell them there is a more natural enzyme choice.
Tracey Washburn, Tropical Bullfrog Spas
The Pure Enzymes product is used in conjunction with sanitizers, Vaughan explains, breaking down organic materials like sunscreen, sweat and debris so less sanitizer is needed to get the job done. “Even though enzymes do a better job than traditional chemicals at most of the cleaning, they can’t do it all,” he says. “Waters Choice Pure Enzymes are more effective than sanitizers alone. The spa water will last longer between refills, be softer, clearer, easier to take care of and have no chemical smell.”
Tracee Ezman, owner of Hot Tub Outlet in Littleton, Colorado, has been selling Pure Enzymes since its release and says the product has many benefits. “It’s noncorrosive for the spa equipment such as pumps; it’s easy to use,” she says. “The once-a-month bottle of natural enzymes acts as an all-in-one product handling metals, foam, hard water and clarification. The customer can easily keep water in their spa for an entire year without needing to change it.”
There are a few alternative products on the market, Ezman says, “but Waters Choice is less expensive for the customer and ends up using less sanitizer than most competitors’ products, so it allows for a more chemical-free spa experience.”
Vaughan says retailers get exclusive territory rights from Waters Choice when offering the Pure Enzymes product in their showrooms. Ezman says this system is beneficial to the retailer. “Water’s Choice does not allow online stores to underprice it, so the retailer can keep all of their customers’ sales for themselves,” she says. “They also keep the wholesale price very low so the retailer can get a much higher profit on each bottle.”
Hot Tub Outlet has a lot of customers with vacation rentals or second homes, and Ezman says the Pure Enzymes once-a-month treatment allows her customers to administer the product themselves, eliminating expensive maintenance and water costs, since they don’t have to replace the spa water as often. “[Our customers] are addicted,” Ezman says, “which means more sales, more repeat business. I use it in my own spa, and I hardly do anything to maintain my water. It’s so easy!”