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Bringing the Hot Springs Home
| Article
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16949 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1990 |
1,835 Words |
| Author
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Kate Tsubata
Kate Tsubata is a freelance writer on issues pertaining to
media, education, health, and family and works in the
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. |
"By 1995, every up-to-date house in the country will have either a whirlpool tub or spa."
This startling assessment by Frank Osterhoudt, owner of Apollo Pool Service of Glendale, Maryland, is borne out by statistics. Hot tub and spa sales are at more than a quarter of a million each year and rising, according to the most recent figures of the National Spa and Pool Institute, a fivefold increase in ten years.
Whirlpool tubs are enjoying a similar boom, according to Lynn Holder, a bath consultant at Atlantic Plumbing Supplies in Washington, D.C. "Most developers building mid- to high-priced houses are installing whirlpool tubs in the master bath. And of those remodeling existing baths, around three-quarters are putting in whirlpool tubs," Holder says.
Tim Mullally, chief executive officer of Kallista, Inc., of luxury bath equipment, agrees, noting that sales of whirlpools have mounted steadily every year for his firm, "It hasn't even begun to plateau," he says. Mullally emphasizes that "whirlpool tubs are not just a fad - they are functional. You must have a bathtub anyway, but this one upgrades your whole home. When hotels have them, they advertise and charge more; the same holds true for your home."
The popularity of sinking into a tub of heated water, churned to a froth of massaging bubbles by jets of forced air, lies in its soothing effect on aching muscles and stressed nerves, says Holder. "The therapeutic value is not only the relief of aching muscles," explains Osterhoudt, "but also the relief of one's aching psychological state. On those days when I feel I'm going to blow a gasket, I climb into the hot tub for forty-five minutes and come out a new person."
Mullally points out that two-person whirlpools are a direct result of our busy, two-working-parents life-style. "Many couples use the time after work or children's bedtimes to slide into a whirlpool and sit and chat. It does relax you after a tense, keyed-up day of stress. We practice that ourselves."
Hot Tubs and Whirlpools
Hot tubs and whirlpool tubs are not to be confused with each other. Hot tubs, and their in-ground cousins, spas, are kept filled with water and maintained with sanitizing chemicals, similar to a swimming pool. They contain a heater, pump, and
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