Drain hot tub during each turnover?

Question

Simple question, do you drain and refill your hot tub during each turnover, or only as needed?

If only as needed, what does cleaning consist of? Just skimming out debris and adjusting chemicals?

Ken Boone · Answer

Drain and fill every time without question.  All kinds of things happen in hot tubs.  You will have guests ask you about how you clean your hot tub.  You don't want to say as needed.  You want to say after every guest.  You will be using a clean hot tub with fresh water that no one else has been in.  Period.  Anything else is unacceptable in my book.

JD Martin · Answer

Considering some of the things *I've* done in hot tubs I would definitely be draining and refilling every time; I don't even want to be in my own water more than once 🤣

Collin Hays · Answer

If there are any plaintiff attorneys on the board, they’d advocate for you not draining between guests…

Ken Boone · Answer

Well, let me ask you this.  If you and your wife or kids are on vacation, how would you feel about getting in a hot tub that had the same water in it, that 12 other strangers have been in.  You trusting the cleaning job for that or would you prefer to know that it was DRAINED and cleaned with fresh water.  Just saying man..

I know of someone who does this.. there argument is that it is not needed so they clean it once a month whether it needs it or not and they save on their water bill or well water.  The folks that service my hot tubs goes insane with that kind of thinking because they know what is still in the water after a clean.  You just can't clean it proper without a drain.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Technically, if you add enough chlorine/Bromine, the water will be sufficiently sanitized, I.e., germs are dead.

But then there's sweat. The huge amount of sweat combined with the huge amount of evaporation means that after one use you are sitting in 'chlorinated sweat' as I was once told at a spa show....

And then there's the other stuff that we don't even want to think about.....

Collin Hays · Answer

Agree it needs changing out each time. You need every assurance that your cleaning crew is doing this. I am amazed that people actually use these hot tubs as it is so gross to think about.

Paige Martin · Answer

@Jason Stoltzfus

As a guest I would like to think it was drained and cleaned between each stay, but I don't own a hut tub and our rental units don't have them. However, playing devil's advocate if I was going to go to a resort, hotel, etc. They are obviously not drained and cleaned between each "user"..I don't even know if they do it every day? I would think it would be similar to a pool? There are chemicals to kill anything nasty and of course a pool isn't being drained after each guest.

I think people should be aware of the risks of using hot tubs (think UTIs- especially women) before getting into one, but that's just me and personally why I choose not to use them...or if I do I only put my feet/legs in haha.

Just trying to throw out some alternative view points.

Joshua Strickland · Answer

Every time. Have your cleaners clean the filter while they’re doing it.

John Underwood · Answer

Check and see if there are any requirements in your area. You may have to drain and fill, but check and see.

Jason Stoltzfus · Answer

> However, playing devil's advocate if I was going to go to a resort, hotel, etc. They are obviously not drained and cleaned between each "user"..I don't even know if they do it every day? I would think it would be similar to a pool? There are chemicals to kill anything nasty and of course a pool isn't being drained after each guest.

So... I DO have a hot tub at my place and we DO drain it before every stay. But I won't deny wondering once or twice if it's necessary. Hence my question... anyway, this was my reasoning as well.

> Well living out here in Utah where we're not sure if we're going to have enough water to drink next summer we are very jealous of you all back east that have so much water you can just dump hot tubs full of it out every few days so people don't feel "icky".  :P

So, do you think that's a thing for STR out west? Like I could imagine that if you're in a water conscious area of the country, you really can't drain in between stays.

> And then there's the other stuff that we don't even want to think about.....

Jellyfish.

Thanks for all of the points of view.

Drain hot tub during each turnover?

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