Question on water changing / drain tub

[bwspa]

Skimming through owners manuals of tubs I'm considering, I see comments on draining tubs and how high temp water plus chemicals can damage lawns.  Ok, seems logical.  That begs the question, where do people drain the water? 

[SnowHot]

I'm fortunate to have a "non lawn" area near my hot tub where I can drain ours.

I will state this, don't drain it into a septic system. In my previous life I ran a family septic system business.  We saw many septic system failures due to hot tub chemicals killing the necessary enzymes and bacteria in the leach field.

[HotTubLife]

Thanks for this alert!. I'm hoping that with my spa on one side of the house and the septic on the other, this won't become an issue. But without your warning, I wouldn't even have known to take care about this!

[Conine2965]

I'm in albany new York drained on lawn for 15 yrs never had a problem. I do try to avoid putting in chlorine for a couple of days be for draining

[bud16415]

    We live in a little town and have city water that they soak us pretty good for (pun intended) our water and sewer bill come together and sewer is based on water usage. I asked them if there was a discount for filling a pool or hot tub because they didn’t get the water back to treat. They said yes but only if you use 1000 gallons or more. So I figured if I have to pay a premium for the water I will send it back when done and I ran a hose from the drain to the cleanout that’s above ground and it is the easiest thing to do now draining the tub.

I have also drained it onto the lawn when I’m in a hurry and I use my 2” siphon hose. Never hurt the grass at all. When I fill my tub the city water has 2 PPM chlorine in it and we drink it. It is about the same as what’s in the tub when I drain it. The level of chlorine and salt if you have a salt tub wont hurt a thing on the lawn IMO.

I agree with above poster if you know you are changing the water don’t add anything for a day or two.   

[SnowHot]

    We live in a little town and have city water that they soak us pretty good for (pun intended) our water and sewer bill come together and sewer is based on water usage. I asked them if there was a discount for filling a pool or hot tub because they didn’t get the water back to treat. They said yes but only if you use 1000 gallons or more. So I figured if I have to pay a premium for the water I will send it back when done and I ran a hose from the drain to the cleanout that’s above ground and it is the easiest thing to do now draining the tub.

I have also drained it onto the lawn when I’m in a hurry and I use my 2” siphon hose. Never hurt the grass at all. When I fill my tub the city water has 2 PPM chlorine in it and we drink it. It is about the same as what’s in the tub when I drain it. The level of chlorine and salt if you have a salt tub wont hurt a thing on the lawn IMO.

I agree with above poster if you know you are changing the water don’t add anything for a day or two.

Your post made me feel bad for you because you're getting soaked by your municipality, then it made me laugh, picturing you draining it into your City sewer pipe.
Good for you!
Then your post about the Chlorine comment made me think of a page I saw a while ago. It had a link to follow for your zip code to see what was in the water you drink.  Many of my friends were disgusted that they have some random stuff in their water.  My local water is mostly chemicals that *protect me*. 

If I didn't have a good area to dump my hot tub I'd probably stop using chemicals a few days before draining, as noted above. Fortunately I have a back yard with nice lawn, but a side yard with zero scape for water conservation(ironic, eh?) where I can easily drain without worrying about damaging plant life.

[BullFrogSpasMN]

    We live in a little town and have city water that they soak us pretty good for (pun intended) our water and sewer bill come together and sewer is based on water usage. I asked them if there was a discount for filling a pool or hot tub because they didn’t get the water back to treat. They said yes but only if you use 1000 gallons or more. So I figured if I have to pay a premium for the water I will send it back when done and I ran a hose from the drain to the cleanout that’s above ground and it is the easiest thing to do now draining the tub.

I have also drained it onto the lawn when I’m in a hurry and I use my 2” siphon hose. Never hurt the grass at all. When I fill my tub the city water has 2 PPM chlorine in it and we drink it. It is about the same as what’s in the tub when I drain it. The level of chlorine and salt if you have a salt tub wont hurt a thing on the lawn IMO.

I agree with above poster if you know you are changing the water don’t add anything for a day or two.

Your post made me feel bad for you because you're getting soaked by your municipality, then it made me laugh, picturing you draining it into your City sewer pipe.
Good for you!
Then your post about the Chlorine comment made me think of a page I saw a while ago. It had a link to follow for your zip code to see what was in the water you drink.  Many of my friends were disgusted that they have some random stuff in their water.  My local water is mostly chemicals that *protect me*. 

If I didn't have a good area to dump my hot tub I'd probably stop using chemicals a few days before draining, as noted above. Fortunately I have a back yard with nice lawn, but a side yard with zero scape for water conservation(ironic, eh?) where I can easily drain without worrying about damaging plant life.

you don't have to worry about 'plant life' I came from the pool industry, if the slope was right and there were no neighbors on the back I used to drain 20,000 + gallons of chlorinated water directly onto a lawn with no issues, a little 400-500 gallon tub with 2-4 ppm worth of chlorine in it will not damage anything including any 'plant life'....Good Luck!

[JacuzziJack]

We live in a little town and have city water that they soak us pretty good for (pun intended) our water and sewer bill come together and sewer is based on water usage. I asked them if there was a discount for filling a pool or hot tub because they didn’t get the water back to treat. They said yes but only if you use 1000 gallons or more. So I figured if I have to pay a premium for the water I will send it back when done and I ran a hose from the drain to the cleanout that’s above ground and it is the easiest thing to do now draining the tub.

That little amount in your HT should have almost impact on a municipal water sewage return. They treat for that stuff.

[Tman122]

I always drained on my lawn and never had a problem. Matter of fact I had a particular dry area down slope that benefited from it.

[wmccall]

I'm in albany new York drained on lawn for 15 yrs never had a problem. I do try to avoid putting in chlorine for a couple of days be for draining

Basically same for me, though I'll frequently kill the power at night after the last soak and drain in the morning.  I haven't had any problem with my lawn.

[bwspa]

Sounds like the warnings I've read are more about the manufacturer covering their rears than any real world concern.  Good to know.