If you’ve got a 650-gallon hot tub that’s been installed in your backyard and it’s almost time to drain and clean it for the first time, you may be wondering if the water from a hot tub will kill your grass or destroy your landscaping. In the article below, we’ll discuss how you can safely drain the water from your hot tub, without causing damage to your grass, garden or flowers.
Before you start draining your hot tub, it is important that you check to see if there are any restrictions or guidelines regarding water disposal in your neighborhood that you should be aware of. Call your municipality office to find out about any local laws.
Unless your hot tub has been heavily used or has some type of cloudy or foamy water, it should be drained and cleaned every three to four months. Follow these steps to safely drain your hot tub as well as prevent flooding your lawn.
- Turn off the circuit breaker to ensure that no parts are running.
- Remove the hot tub’s front panel, locate the hose spigot and attach a garden hose.
- Find a safe place to position the hose as it drains, such as your driveway, letting it flow into the road. If left in your yard, it will become flooded.
- Attach the hose, then open the spigot and let the water drain.
- Once water flow has ceased, use a shop-vac to suck up any remaining water drops on the base of the spa and use a towel to pat dry.
How to Protect Your Grass
Chlorine and other water chemicals may damage or kill your grass. To protect your yard, do not add any chlorine or other water treatments to your hot tub for at least two days before your drain the unit. Chlorine is harsh, but it does dissipate fast, especially if the cover is left off your hot tub. The day you want to drain, test the water and if the chlorine level isn’t yet at zero, run the hot tub for several hours with off the cover to eliminate the remaining chlorine.
Reusing Hot Tub Water
Draining your spa can appear to be a big waste of water. The good news is that there are a couple of things which you can do in order to re-use and recycle your spa water.
Car Wash
The water drained for your spa is more than sufficient to clean your car – and all your neighbor’s cars with. As you drain the hot tub, you can position the hose on your driveway to spray the car and have a place to put on the ground so that it will safely flow into the road and not flood your lawn while you are scrubbing your car with soap.
Water Trees and Shrubs
If the chlorine level is at zero when you are ready to drain your hot tub, then it can safely be used to water your trees and shrubs. If you would like to also use it to water your grass, just make sure to test the pH level first as grass can be quite sensitive. If the pH level is between 7.0 – 7.8, it should be safe but test a small patch first. Make sure to rotate the hose every 30 minutes to avoid over watering one part of your lawn.
Concrete
If the summer has brought a long-lasting heat wave or you live in a dry climate, you may want to water your home’s foundation or concrete driveway to prevent cracks in the material and prevent it from drying out.
Now that you know how to drain your hot tub and keep your grass safe, you can learn more about how to care for a hot tub by downloading a hot tub buyers guide.