Patent ID: 8453275

Claim:
A combination bathtub and spa comprising: (a) a tub enclosure that is adapted to contain a quantity of water; (b) a drain having a drain valve configured to be opened to drain water from the tub enclosure or closed to retain water therein; (c) a supply line for supplying water to the tub enclosure; (d) a lid that is adapted to removably cover the tub enclosure; (e) a pump having an inlet and an outlet; (f) a suction line that provides a path for water from the tub enclosure to the inlet of the pump; (g) a jet flow circuit comprising: (i) a jet flow nozzle that is located in the sidewall of the tub enclosure; (ii) a jet nozzle supply line between the outlet of the pump and the jet flow nozzle; (h) a circulating flow circuit comprising: (i) a circulating nozzle that is located in the sidewall of the tub enclosure; (ii) a circulating line that is located between the outlet of the pump and the circulating nozzle; (iii) a filter that is adapted to filter the water in the circulating flow circuit; (iv) a heater that is adapted to be activated to heat the water that flows through the heater in the circulating flow circuit or to be deactivated so that water that flows therethrough is not heated; (i) a control valve that is adapted to open to allow water to flow through the circulating flow circuit or to close to stop flow through the circulating flow circuit; (j) a control switch configured to be operated by a user to switch between a spa mode in which the control valve is open and a bathtub mode in which the control valve is closed; wherein the pump, control valve and control switch configured to be operated by a user: (k) in a first spa mode in which the water that flows into the tub enclosure is passed through the filter and through the heater while the heater is activated; and (l) in a second spa mode in which the water that flows into the tub enclosure is passed through the filter and through the heater while the heater is deactivated; and (m) in a bathtub mode in which the water that flows into the tub enclosure is not passed through the filter.