First water change of the season

[wmccall]

After a rough February weather wise, I changed the water this past weekend. I swear the first time each season I just seem out of the routine and do something stupid despite being an owner for 7 years now.  This time I was going in and out of the tub using a cut up old clorox bottle to scoop out the last of the water from the seats and I realized I was tracking dirt into the tub. At least I remembered to put the cap back on the drain before I started filling and I didn't forget about the tub while it was filling.

[rick]

I've found it easier to do partial water changes.   Just stick in the garden hose and let the water flow over for a while.   It's cheaper than a full drain and refill cuz the water doesn't get down as far temperature wise so not as much reheating going on.   

[ejf The Spa Guy]

i would not worry about the last 4-5 inches of water left i would just fill it back up and go, you have already dilluted the water down far enough , i do this on my own spa for the past 12 years and recommend to our customers to do the same thing.. if you are a clean freak( no pun intended) use a wet and dry shop vac and you do not need to get in to get the last little bit of water.....

[Hottubber1]

I agree with leaving whatever water is left in the footwell and on the seats. I've been doing that for over 20 years.  It really isn't neccessary to get all of the water out.

But for those of you who do want to evacuate all of the water; Prior to draining, I would recommend using the Aquafinesse Spa Clean puck first, remove your filters and let it circulate for 24 hours prior. You'll be surprised at what you'll find hiding in the plumbing. Do this once a year to purge out all of the calcium and biofilms that sit in the plumbing lines as well as the heater. It'll be easier to maintain the water balance during the year.
Hottubber1

[Tdbo]

Just changed the water in mine yesterday.  After 16 years of doing it, I have finally come to the conclusion that the easiest way is to pump the water out with a 1/4 horse Utility Pump ($29 on sale @Menards.) This will drain most of the water-Then I just hit it with my 16 gal wet/dry vac (usually empty the vac once, sometimes twice.)  Then refill. Done.

[just ducky]

I'm fairly new to the hot tub thing, but I don't get why changing water is that tough?  I just changed ours out last week using the regular method of connecting the garden hose to the drain, opening it up, and letting the water run into the yard.  Now granted I'm on acreage, so running a 500 gal pond of water into my yard isn't a problem.  But doing it this way takes 3 -4 hours to drain, then I do all the cleaning and stuff, then refill it, which takes about an hour using my garden hose.  Yeah, it's a whole afternoon, but is it that much easier using a utility pump?  I have one, but just never felt it was worth the trouble of using it.

[Tdbo]

No, draining a hot tub is not rocket science. However, yes, it really is much easier using a utility pump because 1) I don't have to take the entire front off the tub to access the drain valve (or modify it) and 2) I have the tub drained in 35 minutes. With the pump, I have the tub drained, cleaned, filled and heating in < 2 hours. Using your method (which I used for many years) the tub would still be draining after 2 hours. Time (for me) is a finite resource, and I prefer not to needlessly expend time on mundane tasks that can be completed with greater efficiency using low cost resources.