Hot tubs, the craze driving neighbours up the wall

On our overcrowded isle, competition for the top 10 irritants most likely to ruin a peaceful day in the garden was already pretty hot.

But a craze that has made its way to Britain from Scandinavia via America is threatening to blow all other causes of annoyance out of the water.

Hot tubs, the electrically heated communal baths that have sprung up in countless back gardens, have been named for the first time among the top 10 causes of “garden rage” in an annual survey.

Whereas other entries on the list, such as power tools, barbecue smoke and faulty burglar alarms, are familiar annoyances from many a summer, the whirlpool baths are a relatively new phenomenon.

As well as their perpetual “bubbling sound” driving many neighbours up the wall, hot tub owners also have a tendency to hold noisy late-night parties while taking a dip, the survey found.

Read More - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9406188/Hot-tubs-the-craze-driving-neighbours-up-the-wall.html

How hot tubs can harbour Legionnaires' bacteria

Hot tubs are known to be effective mechanisms for spreading legionella infection, an official at the Health Protection Agency said this week.

That statement followed the death of one person from Legionnaires' disease and 18 further cases in Stoke-on-Trent since 24 July.

A hot tub displayed in a store in the town is thought to be the "probable" source after samples from it were found to match those taken from the patients.

Hot tubs or spa pools are popular in gyms, hotels and increasingly in people's back gardens - but experts say they can be a health risk if they are not looked after.

The water in hot tubs is kept at between 30 and 35 degrees, close to body temperature, which is the ideal environment for legionella bacteria to grow.

The bubbling and frothing of the aerosols in a hot tub can then throw the bacteria into the air for several yards around the tub.

So you don't have to be sitting in the hot tub to inhale the bacteria.

Read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19097187