Do Ella tubs use flexible hose that can grow mold inside the lines?

Yes, in one place. The water supply connections on an Ella walk-in tub are flexible braided stainless steel hoses rather than rigid pipe, and they carry fresh, pressurized water from your home's supply to the faucet, not standing bath water. The lines where leftover water could sit are the air and hydro therapy lines under the deck, and those are kept clean by the Auto Purge cycle, by ozone sterilization on tubs equipped with it, and by a monthly vinegar flush. Can Mold Grow Inside the Air or Hydro Lines of a Walk-In Tub? answers the mold question on its own; this page sorts out which hoses on the tub are flexible, which lines ever hold bath water, and what keeps each of them dry.

Which Lines on an Ella Tub Are Flexible Hose

Shoppers usually ask this question because they have seen another brand's tub plumbed with soft tubing and want to know whether the same thing is hiding under an Ella deck. It helps to separate three kinds of line, because they do very different jobs.

• The faucet supply lines. The Ella faucet set connects with flexible braided stainless steel hoses: two 3/4 inch by 5 foot supply lines, a line feeding the spout, and a 5 foot hose for the pull-out hand shower, which has a back-flow prevention valve to protect your home's water supply. These hoses carry clean water from the house, under pressure, every time you fill the tub or use the hand shower. They are not part of the therapy system and they never hold bath water.
• The drain connection. Earlier tubs shipped with a flexible drain hose that let the installer snake the line to the house drain. That hose is no longer supplied. It was replaced by a standard 90-degree PVC elbow with a gasket that connects to the brass drain under the tub, and your plumber continues the run in ordinary PVC, as Is the Flexible Drain Hose Still Available? The PVC Elbow That Replaced It explains.
• The therapy lines. These are the lines the question is really about, because they are the ones that touch bath water. The video on this page takes you behind the tub for a look at them. It shows how many tubes and lines run under a single tub, how neatly everything is bundled, the consistent glue joints, and the grounding straps on every component. The narrator's point is the one that matters here: with that many lines, the Auto Purge system is important because it blows every one of them out so mold, mildew and bacteria cannot grow inside, and you can get into the tub next time knowing the lines are clean and dry.

Where Water Sits After a Bath

An Ella tub with jets has two separate networks under the deck, and each collects moisture in its own way.

The hydro massage pushes bath water through a pump and out of the hydro jets, so the hydro lines carry whatever is in the water, including body oils, soap film and bath product residue. The air massage uses a blower to push air through small air jets in the seat, at the base of the seat and in the footwell, and after an air bath some water naturally flows back into that air piping. If either kind of moisture were left in place for weeks, it could develop a film, and that film is where mildew and bacteria start. Whether a line is flexible or rigid makes no difference to that risk. What matters is whether the water is removed before it has time to sit, and that is the job the tub's defenses are built to do.

Auto Purge Keeps the Air Lines Dry

Every Ella tub with air massage has Auto Purge, a self-cleaning cycle that expels residual moisture from the air lines. It is fully automatic and its timing is fixed, as How Long Does Auto Purge Run After a Bath and Can I Change It? details.

1. About 20 minutes after the air pump is switched off, the blower restarts on its own. The countdown begins at shutoff, so if you test the air for a moment before a bath, the clock restarts from that shutoff.
2. The blower runs for 120 seconds, pushing the water that drained back into the air piping out through the air jets in the seat, at the base of the seat and in the footwell.
3. It stops by itself. There is no button, timer or setting for it, and it cannot be shortened, delayed or cancelled once it begins.

The purge runs whether the tub is full, empty, or you are still sitting in it. The air feels cool for two minutes and then stops, and there is no harm in staying put. The only thing that prevents a purge is a lack of power, so switching the tub's breakers off after every bath is not a good routine: water flows back into the air piping after every air bath, and the purge is what clears it.

One consequence worth knowing before you buy: hydro-only and soaking models, including the Standard, Standard60, Zen, Zen60 and Flow, have no air blower and therefore no purge cycle. On those tubs the hydro lines are protected by the steps below.

Ozone and the Vinegar Flush Keep the Hydro Lines Clean

On tubs equipped with it, ozone sterilization is part of the hydro massage system. The generator starts and stops with the hydro pump, so it engages automatically whenever the hydro massage is running. When the ozone unit is working you may hear a light hum with no water or air moving, which Hums, Clicks, Whooshes and Buzzes lists among the normal sounds of an Ella tub.

Neither ozone nor Auto Purge replaces the monthly flush, which is the one piece of upkeep the owner does. The canonical flush, used before first use and once a month, is:

1. Combine 2 cups of white vinegar with 2 cups of water.
2. Fill the tub with water to one inch above the highest jets.
3. Add the mixture and run the tub for 10 minutes.
4. Drain.

Flushing after every bath is not necessary. The purge handles the air side on its own, ozone works during every hydro session where it is fitted, and the monthly flush clears the film that soap and body oils leave in the pump lines.

What This Means When You Choose a Tub

If the thought of standing water in the lines is what worries you, the therapy package is the decision that matters, not the hose material. Walk-In Tub Therapy Options and Features lists the five jetting options, and every one that includes air jets includes Auto Purge. A hydro package relies on ozone, where equipped, and the vinegar flush. A soaker has no jets and no therapy lines at all.

In daily use the routine is simple. Leave the tub powered so the purge can run, expect the burst of air about 20 minutes after an air bath, and do the vinegar flush once a month. If you ever notice flakes in the water or a mildew smell, run the flush and get in touch at ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850 so the team can look at your model with you.

Watch: Inside the Build: Under-the-Deck Piping of Our Walk-In Tubs | Voted Safest 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How Do I Clean the Jet Lines on a Tub Without Auto Purge?
• Does the Monthly Vinegar Flush Clean the Air Massage Lines Too?
• How do I run the one-time vinegar flush on a new Ella walk-in tub?

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