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For those of you who maintain a spa or hot tub or jacuzzi at their listing, how often do you drain and refill it? Are there any hosts out there who drain and refill between every guest? We recently had a potential guest ask if we drained the hot tub between guests, and it got me thinking.
Our Softub Resort 300 holds 300 gallons and we currently drain and refill it every few months, or when necessary. I check the levels of 8 chemicals with a strip after each stay, during the turnover process and adjust the chemistry as needed. I do have 2 sets of filters that I swap out/clean about every month or so â remove dirty set; install clean set; soak, rinse, dry old set for next time. Weâve had no complaints or issues. But does anyone know of a reason to drain and refill between every guest as a rule? We do back-to-backs and have only a 2-night minimum and when busy have 10 stays a month. The water bill alone would be crazy!
In our area 300 gallons of water cost $1.52; Sewer cost would be $3.47. Total: $ 4.99.
I suppose itâs much higher out west, but I would guess itâs not a big number. $10?? Worth checking.
We were considering a hot tub awhile ago and researched this issue. Some people said that there was no need to drain it between uses (majority view of those we spoke to) but some did drain with every turnover.
You might want to check whether there is any local regulation/guidance in your area. [Probably not, just like STR pools arguably should be inspected as public pools but usually arenât.] But if there is local regulation, itâs worth asking them as not draining doubles down on the spa really being public not private. But even if you drained each time, I would bet that if there were regulations that it would still be considered public and still require inspection because of the need to balance the water.
I wonder if your manufacturer or local spa maintenance firm (?) has any guidance.
If youâre shocking it, then there is no need to drain it, unless someone had a cut and bleed all over it. Folks donât drain pools after each guest stay so why drain a hot tub.
To me, it wouldnât just be a matter of the cost of the water to drain it between each booking- itâs an unconscionable waste of water, a precious resource, when half the world is suffering from drought conditions.
Speaking of wasting water, howâs this for the ultimate in a sense of entitlement:
I donât recall the precise rationale those had for draining the spa with each turnover. I remember that no one I talked with could give me any authority.
But the thinking might be along the lines that because a spa is so much smaller than a pool that its chemistry can get out of whack faster, and that the easiest thing to do in some circumstances is just to drain it because it is only 300 gallons of water, whereas our pool for example, is 32,000 gallons.
Again, the majority view I spoke with was that there was no need to drain the spa with each turnover.
As I recall the greater challenge was keeping the spa clean during a stay without monitoring the chemicals every day. I recall a lot of discussion on that, and the risks of infection within the stay.
Still, like short-term rentals, the most likely accident in hot tubs is a slip or fall.
âOnlyâ 300 gallons of water is what the average American uses in about 5 days for everything- bathing, dish washing, clothes washing, cooking, etc. (And Americans use more resources per capita than anyone else in the world) Itâs hardly an insignificant amount. Try living somewhere where water doesnât gush out of the taps 24/7- youâll learn to appreciate it and consider any water wastage to be a borderline criminal act. Youâd never say âonly 300 gallonsâ again.
I think that the concept of draining a hot tub between bookings is more a matter of the âickâ perception- âOoh, some strangers sat in here, gross.â
Thereâs no valid reason to drain it as long as itâs properly maintained- thatâs what all those chemicals are for.
Think about public hot tubs that can be used at public indoor swimming pools with constantly changing people getting in and out. Willing to bet they donât drain it every day. Chemicals are probably over the top so I donât use them, if thereâs a sauna, thatâs for me.
This might have been part of the thinking that someone raised with me. That a short-term rental pool and hot tub are really public facilities that should be tested but typically arenât, that draining the hot tub on turnovers makes them âprivateâ.
Though I donât know if that argument holds any water.
Itâs âonlyâ 300 in context; the comparison was with 32,000 gallons.
As an aside Americans use on average about 100 gallons of water per day, so 300 gallons is what would be used in three days. So itâs even worse.
But worse than that is that CA grows three billion pounds of almonds a year. Each almond takes between one and three gallons of water, and there are about 400 almonds in a pound. So it takes 3,000,000,000 x 400 x 1 (or more gallons of water) = a trillion and 200 billion gallons of water. 70% are exported!
This is just almonds, where the math is simple. We have thirstier crops â and of course thereâs beef â that consume lots of water.
Iâm trying to do my part to NOT be those guys. They also profit rather well off that âwastage.â In my case we lose if weâd drain after every guest. Thereâs no premium I could charge to say to potential guests that âWe drain and refill the hot tub every guest, for YOU!â
Itâs just astounding that it would even occur to anyone to do such a thing. And unless the phone was waterproof, which some are, of course it wasnât ever going to work again after being in the water.
