Practically amazing: the ingenious, spa-like hydrotherapy tube lets users stand straight up for a full-body massage like no other - Design Corner

Pool & Spa News, March 28, 2003 by Rebecca Robledo

It always amazes me just how many practical ways builders find to satisfy clients' every need.

Ray Alderete is a good example. He found a way to take the inground-spa experience to a new level by adding what he calls a hydrotherapy tube.

Most spas are about 3-1/2 feet deep, which is a problem for people who want full body immersion. "The seat's only 18 inches deep, so your shoulders are sticking up," says Alderete, owner of Alderete Pools in San Clemente, Calif.

Alderete's design addresses this problem by creating a half-moon-shaped hydrotherapy tube for clients to stand inside. The tubes are plumbed with 12 to 14 jets along the radius wall. The extra jets require two additional booster pumps that operate independently from the main hot tub. This configuration allows a user to get a complete water massage from their shoulders down. Alderete can even place the jets exactly where clients want hydrotherapy--that achy lower back, for instance.

The end result is a water massage like no other. "It will give you more therapy at one time than what you can get when you're sitting down on a seat," Alderete says. "The jets can be placed from your neck down to your ankles for hydrotherapy everywhere."

This feature appeals especially to athletes or clients with medical problems.

Alderete began building the hydrotherapy tubes at the suggestion of a customer eight years ago. He's kept the feature in his product menu ever since.

"We tailor each one to the client. You want the water to come to the client's shoulders when he's standing there, so you measure the client. Then you have jets plumbed all around the back of the radius, so you get more therapy, from the bottom of your feet all the way up your back," he says.

Usually the tubes are about 2-1/2 feet in circumference and about 5 to 6 feet deep, depending on the client's height.

A couple comprising a tall husband and short wife will have to decide who gets fitted for the tube. "Or we could make it in the middle and he can squat down," Alderete says.

But inground spa tubes, which add about $3,000 to $4,000 to a project, aren't for everyone. Alderete says he only does about two or three a year.

"Usually, you need a little more room, and people don't always want to spend the extra money," he notes. "But for those customers who truly want, or even need, such a feature, it can be practically amazing."

Rebecca Robledo is a senior editor with Pool & Spa News. A 12-year industry veteran, she specializes in design and construction.