BISHTA recommends that domestic hot tubs are drained and refilled every 3 months in order to keep them clean and fresh. A tub in a commercial setup, such as a holiday cottage or health spa, will typically need to be drained more often than this.
Even a relatively compact hot tub such as our 3 seater Dartmoor model, contains a lot of water (the Dartmoor holds 776 litres). This water needs to go somewhere but, understandably, some hot tub owners aren’t sure how to best deal with this volume of water. There’s also the concern of the chemicals used to keep the water clean and the impact these might have on your lawn or local wildlife.
How to drain your hot tub
Depending on the exact model of hot tub you have there will be different ways of draining your tub but most people will be able to use one of the following methods:
1. Using the attached hose
If your Hot Tub has an attached hose this can be used to drain the tub from the bottom. Don’t forget to turn off your Tub first so that the pumps aren’t active when you’re draining the water.
2. Using a submersible pump
A submersible pump can be used to quickly and easily drain your Hot Tub.
3. Using a garden hose
If your Hot Tub doesn’t have an attached drainage hose you may need to attach a standard garden hose in order to drain the water from your tub.
Where to drain the water
Chemicals in the water
Generally speaking, there is no issue with draining your Hot Tub onto your lawn or even using the water to hydrate your flower beds. If you’re using the right chemicals and monitoring the ph level of your Hot Tub water it won’t contain anything which will damage your plants. This is much like using washing up water to water your plants – there’s nothing harmful in there and the plants don’t mind.
If you’re using the wrong balance of chemicals you could potentially cause damage to your lawn or plants so proceed with caution. Another thing to be aware of is that water which is still hot from use in your Hot Tub needs to be cooled before it will be suitable for your garden. Leave the water to cool before draining your tub and you shouldn’t have any issues.
Draining Away
One thing to be aware of is that a Hot Tub contains a lot of water and this can have an impact when all drained away in one go. If your garden is more of a yard and therefore mostly covered in concrete all that water will need to go somewhere. Consider how well your garden drains after a heavy day of rain. Does water collect on the surface or drain off into next door’s garden? Once you’ve drained your Hot Tub a few times you’ll be familiar with how well the water drains away and where the best spot is to drain it.
You also need to be aware of the foundations of your house and what you’ve got under your hot tub. IF you’re not sure your best bet is to drain the water away as far from your house (and your neighbour’s house) as possible.
