How Do You Drain an Inflatable Hot Tub?

Inflatable hot tubs are a wonderful addition to any garden but they still require some ongoing maintenance to make them pleasant and safe to use. Although you don’t need to empty your hot tub every time you use it, you do sometimes need to drain out the water, clean the tub and refill it to ensure good standards of hygiene.

I thought I’d do some research into how to drain the water out of a portable spa since it isn’t immediately obvious how to do this!

So, how do you drain an inflatable hot tub? An inflatable hot tub is drained through a garden hose attached to the drainage valve. This will be on the outer wall of the hot tub. An adaptor is attached to the hose that allows you to fix the hose and valve together.

Not every inflatable hot tub will come with an adaptor but they can easily be purchased online or from hot tub manufacturers directly. Of course, you need to be careful about where you’re draining the water. So here, we’ll take a look at how to drain it safely and easily.

Where Can I Drain The Water From My Inflatable Hot Tub?

It’s important to take care when you’re draining the water out of your inflatable hot tub. The water contains strong chemicals that are necessary to sanitise the water. This keeps it free of the germs and bacteria that could cause bathers to become ill or suffer from skin problems, and they could damage plants, flowers and grass.

Bromine or chlorine are the two chemicals that are generally used to sanitise hot tubs and if they get onto your lawn they will harm and discolour the grass. If flowers are exposed to these chemicals they may die, and if the water that has been chemically treated is allowed to collect in pools on the ground, birds or family pets may drink it and become ill.

With all of this in mind, it’s important to ensure that you’ve taken proper care to drain the water out of the inflatable hot tub safely and appropriately.

You must bear in mind, though, that your inflatable hot tub contains a large volume of water. If you’re draining it all away at once, you will be releasing a lot of liquid into your garden. This is especially relevant if your hot tub is in a yard with a concrete surface since the water will have nowhere to drain away to.

If your garden often becomes waterlogged after a period of heavy rain you certainly should never consider emptying the contents of your inflatable hot tub directly onto the surface. You should also be aware of your home’s foundations and anything that may be directly underneath the hot tub.

Draining the water onto wooden decking, for example, will cause damage and rot to the wood. You should also be aware of potential damage to your neighbours’ property through water ingress.

The best solution is to put the end of the hose into a drain before opening the valve. This will ensure the water can safely drain away without causing any damage to fauna or flora.

How Do I Attach The Hose To The Drainage Valve?

Some inflatable hot tubs will come with an attached hose that you can use to drain the water out of the tub and into a drain. However, others will not. You will, therefore, need to use your own standard garden hose to remove the water from inside the hot tub.

Luckily, it isn’t difficult to do this. Simply use an adapter as mentioned earlier to attach the hose to the drainage valve and then put the end of the hose into a suitable drain. Once you have done this, just undo the drain stopper valve and you’ll see the water begin to flow through the hose out into the drain safely.

What Are The Steps For Emptying An Inflatable Hot Tub?

Whatever type of inflatable hot tub you have, it’s easy to drain out the water. The owner’s manual will give you clearer instructions about how to change the water for your specific model, however, these are the simple steps that should apply regardless of your model:

• Turn off the electricity supply to your tub and unplug it.
• Attach the hose as described above.
• Put the end of the hosepipe into a drain or a space away from grass, plants, flowers and your property.
• Undo the valve and allow the water to empty from the tub.
• Once the tub is empty, clean it thoroughly.
• Refill the tub with more fresh water. Cover the tub then reheat the water ready for the nest use.

How Often Do I Need To Drain The Water In My Hot Tub?

Although it isn’t necessary to drain the water from your inflatable hot tub after every use – after all that would be a waste of time, water and money – you do need to make sure you change it on a regular basis. If you wait until the water smells, looks or feels unpleasant, it’s already too late!

There is a formula you can use to determine how often you need to change the water in an inflatable hot tub:

Find out how many gallons of water your inflatable spa can hold then divide it by three. Divide the answer you get by the number of people regularly using the tub each day and the answer will tell you how often the water needs changing.

This will, in theory at least give you a good idea of when to change the water. If you are wanting a slightly more scientific method then using TDS test strips to test the amount of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the water is more accurate.

If, after having done the test, you find that your TDS levels are 1500ppm or more then it’s time to change the water.

What Signs Should I Look For That My Hot Tub Water Needs Changing?

Some key signs to look for that let you know the water in your hot tub requires changing include:

Cloudy water – the moment you spot cloudiness in your inflatable hot tub’s water, you should shock it. If this doesn’t do the trick to make it clean, drain it and refill the tub.

Foam – sometimes, the water in an inflatable hot tub can become foamy. If yours has the sign, use a de-foamer to clear the problem so you can continue to use the tub freely. If the foam rapidly returns, though, drain the water and clean the tub before refilling.

An unpleasant smell – if you notice an unpleasant odour when you remove the cover from your inflatable spa, it’s definitely time the drain the water.

Time – even if the water smells and look fine, if it’s been over two months since you drained the water in your inflatable hot tub you should definitely change it. This applies even if it’s only been used a few times. Remember, bacteria grows and thrives in spa water, so stay safe.

Related Questions

Why Does Hot Tub Water Need To Be Changed Regularly? It’s very important to change the water in your inflatable hot tub regularly because bacteria grows and thrives in warm water such as that found in hot tubs.

Even if you can’t smell or see anything amiss in the water of your spa, you can rest assured that germs are there, lurking, ready to make you and other bathers unwell. If you don’t drain your tub, clean it thoroughly and refill it again regularly you could be putting yourself and other users at risk of illnesses and skin problems.

These could be relatively mild – for example, hot tub folliculitis is one condition that can arise due to bacteria in hot tubs. It isn’t a serious problem, but it is irritating since it causes itching of the skin.

On the other hand, they could be serious or even life-threatening. Legionnaire’s Disease is one such medical problem that can be caused by unhygienic hot tubs. These issues can be avoided by keeping the water in the tub clean and safe for use with the appropriate use of sanitising chemicals and regular draining, cleaning and refilling.

How do I keep my inflatable hot tub clean? Every time you drain the water out of your inflatable hot tub, you should always take the time to thoroughly clean it before you refill it again for further use.

It needn’t be difficult to clean and inflatable hot tub. Simply scrub the inside and outside of the tub and give the water filter a thorough clean too. Make sure you don’t use any soaps or detergents, though, as these can get stuck inside the tub and inside the air jets.

When you refill the hot tub with fresh water and switch on the jets, foaming will be the result and this is something that you should absolutely avoid!

After draining a hot tub, it’ll only take around 10 or 15 minutes to give the tub a clean. Just use a soft cloth and warm water to remove the dirt from the surfaces. Never use a scrubbing brush, even on stubborn stains. Make sure you pay close attention to the water line since this is where chemicals, oils and dirt can build up.

If the stains are hard to remove, use a special surface cleaner designed for use on hot tubs then rinse thoroughly before you refill the spa with fresh water.