The Brand Story
Waterway: The Oxnard Factory Behind the Jets You Feel
Lean back in a hot tub and feel the jets press against your shoulders, and the parts doing that work may well have been molded on the Oxnard plain, up the coast from Los Angeles. That is where Waterway Plastics has worked since 1973, a family-owned company that started out serving the pool, spa and whirlpool bath trade when backyard hot tubs were still a new idea. Waterway never set out to be the name on the shell. It set out to make the pieces inside: the jets, the valves, the pumps, the skimmers and the fittings that decide whether a spa feels like a massage or a bathtub.
Chapter 1 · 1973
Built alongside an industry
Waterway arrived at the same moment as the modern spa industry, and the two grew up together. The company has described developing its hot tub components with the early pioneers of that industry, working out how much water and air a jet needs, how a topside valve should feel under a wet hand, and how to make plastic parts that would survive years of hot, chemically treated water. Whirlpool bathtubs became a second market, then swimming pools a third.
From the start the business stayed in the family, and it stayed in California. Waterway has never been the kind of company that publishes long histories about itself. Its story is told mostly through catalogs, and through parts that service technicians recognize on sight.
Chapter 2 · The factory
Everything under one roof in Oxnard
Today Waterway runs a fully integrated manufacturing campus on East Sturgis Road in Oxnard, with roughly 450,000 to 460,000 square feet of space depending on which year's figure you read. Design, engineering, tooling, molding, quality control, shipping, sales and service all happen at the same address. Owning the tooling matters in this business: when a jet body or a skimmer lid is molded in-house, the company controls the dimensions that let a replacement part drop into a spa built a decade earlier.
Waterway builds with NSF-approved materials, and its products are made to UL and NSF standards. Its catalog has grown past 40 product categories, including the Shurflex line of flexible hose and tubing. The company even has a slogan aimed at counterfeit and look-alike parts:
"Be sure It's Genuine."
Chapter 3 · How a spa jet works
Water, air and a little physics
Every Waterway spa jet does the same basic job. A pump pushes water through a narrow nozzle, and as the stream speeds up, its pressure drops, pulling in air from a separate line. The water and air mix in the jet body and leave as a stream of bubbles. Change the nozzle shape, the size of the opening or the way the face rotates, and the same water feels completely different on your back. That is why spa owners and technicians care so much about matching the exact jet style, size and color when a part needs replacing, and why Waterway keeps so many variations in production.
A Safety Chapter
The drain law that changed pool and spa parts
In June 2002 a seven-year-old girl named Virginia Graeme Baker drowned after the suction of a hot tub drain held her underwater. Her death led to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, signed in December 2007 and enforceable from December 19, 2008. Drain covers made since that date must meet the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 anti-entrapment standard, and public pools and spas had to retrofit compliant covers, with extra safeguards required where a single main drain could be blocked.
Waterway makes VGB-compliant drains and grates for pools and spas. When replacing one, match the cover to the flow rating and installation type printed on it, and replace covers when they reach the end of their rated service life.
The Next Chapter
Pool pumps and the energy rules
Waterway also builds pool and spa pumps, and that side of the business has been reshaped by the Department of Energy. Since July 19, 2021, dedicated-purpose pool pumps made or imported for the U.S. market must meet federal efficiency standards measured by a weighted energy factor printed on the label. Most variable-speed pumps meet the rule, while most single- and two-speed in-ground pumps of 1.0 total horsepower and above do not. Storable and rigid electric spa pumps, integral filter pumps and pumps with three-phase motors are exempt, which is why two-speed spa pumps remain common. Waterway's answer for in-ground pools is variable-speed equipment such as the Mustang.
The Lineup
What Waterway builds today
Waterway builds components for spas, pools and whirlpool baths: jets and hydrotherapy fittings, air controls and topside valves, LED lighting, pumps, filters, skimmers, drains, valves and white goods. The Waterway parts HVAC365 carries include:
- Spa jets and spa equipment: replacement jet bodies, internals and spa skimmer flow controls with trim plates.
- Spa pumps: Executive two-speed spa pumps in 48 and 56 frame sizes, from 2 to 4 horsepower, plus small Iron Might and Tiny Might pumps for low-flow circulation, and center-discharge two-speed models.
- Pool pumps: the Mustang variable-speed in-ground pump and Power Defender residential and booster pumps.
- Filters: ProClean cartridge filters, including the 200 square foot model.
- Pool skimmers: the Renegade gunite skimmer, with two ports and a round lid.
- Return inlets and jets and drain and suction covers: the fittings that bring filtered water back to the pool and keep suction outlets safe. See all drains, inlets and skimmers.
At a Glance
Waterway by the numbers
- In business since
- 1973
- Headquarters and factory
- Oxnard, California
- Ownership
- Family owned
- Facility
- About 450,000 to 460,000 sq ft
- Markets
- Spa, pool and whirlpool bath
- Product categories
- More than 40
- Hose and tubing brand
- Shurflex
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Waterway
Where are Waterway products made?
Waterway designs, engineers, tools and manufactures its products at its own campus on East Sturgis Road in Oxnard, California.
Who owns Waterway Plastics?
Waterway Plastics is a family-owned company. It has served the pool, spa and whirlpool bath industry since 1973.
What is Waterway known for?
Waterway is best known for hot tub components such as spa jets, air controls, topside valves and spa pumps, and it also makes pool pumps, filters, skimmers, drains and fittings.
Are Waterway drain covers VGB compliant?
Waterway makes drains and grates designed to meet the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which requires covers made since December 19, 2008, to meet the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 standard. Always check the rating printed on the specific cover.
What is the difference between Waterway Executive and Iron Might spa pumps?
Executive pumps are two-speed spa pumps in the 2 to 4 horsepower range that drive the jets. Iron Might and Tiny Might pumps are much smaller, from 1/16 to 1/8 horsepower, and are used for quiet, continuous low-flow circulation.
