I'm getting ready to purchase an Aquatica Purescape tub. They have plenty of styles. aquaticausa.com/

I figured I should post a follow up in case it can help others in a similar situation. For a heavier bather load we might have considered a UV or ozone system, but seeing as we were new to owning a hot tub, we were hesitant to invest the money to upgrade the system (from what we could find, it would be at least several thousand dollars) when we had no idea how much use the hot tub would get. It did take several months and a few flushes of water for the hot tub to stop smelling heavily of chlorine. We did a few weeks of letting it run with some soda in the water with no bathers, to try to remove the odor and replaced the filters completely. We decided to try Ahhnatural's system for the tub, and it has worked beautifully. I would probably consider the hot tub usage light, and we've enforced quick pre-showering with no problems (our guests were happy to use a hot tub in a pretty backyard, so no fuss about needing to pre-shower). That being said, the hot tub is a pleasure now. We've shocked regularly, and extra after holidays when the tub had extra use with guests. We've occasionally used an enzyme designed for hot tubs. We have no slime, no smell and clear water. No dry skin or rashes. We don't find we need to check on it often when it's not been used. In addition to my being able to use it safely, my family members don't smell of chlorine to make me ill. While I'm sure those who would not like to pre-shower or those with small children that might pee the tub may need chemical treatment, for those who are sensitive to normal hot tub treatments the Ahhnatural system has worked well for us. I paid full price for their system, this isn't a paid endorsement and I've not spoken to them since I did my online order, so aside from my favoritism for non-chemical systems, I feel this is a fairly unbiased review. Hopefully it will help someone else.

I purchased a free-standing, composite soaking tub from Devon & Devon (D&D) (they have a clawfoot, but I chose a different style). Two advantages of composite over acrylic: it holds the heat, and scratches or stains can be easily "buffed out" with light sand paper. The D&D tub has a satin-like matte finish. I use Windex to clean it. D&D is pricey, but after trying out tubs for months, it was my favorite, and I was willing to wait several more months for delivery. Other brands I considered: Wetstyle (from Canada), Bain Ultra, Toto, Kohler, Duravit, Blu Bathworks, Mti, Hydrosystems, Axor, and T&L. Zucchetti and V&A tubs were tempting - but I didn't like the look of the exposed drain pipe.

Tub and aging in place doesn't generally go together and a free standing tub is probably the antithesis because it is even harder to get in and out of than a standard tub where you can perch on the ledge and swing your legs around. Most seniors who want to age in place replace the tub with a large walk in shower - even if it has a curb it is generally fine so long as there is a grab bar at the entrance to balance when going over the curb. In my experience with seniors very few of them are in wheel chairs and so a shower with curb is fine. You can have the curb made relatively low and narrow and still have it act as a curb When a senior reaches the point of not being able to safely navigate a curb they generally have some kind of health care attendant to help with showering - Medicare actually pays for that kind of assistance if it is medically necessary. There are some spry seniors on this forum who take baths in their senior years but not in a free standing tub which is particularly hard to navigate in and out of since it is higher and there are no grab bars to assist. I personally know of two people who were trapped in their tubs - one for a few days before rescue and the other only for a relatively short period of time because she had her cell phone. Both were traumatized.