In short
- Hot tub water has City rules: chlorinated or salt water never goes to a storm sewer.
- On closure, the City allows the sanitary sewer through a plumber's connection, your own ground if it soaks in, or a wastewater hauler with the right licence.
- One Ottawa hauler lists hot tubs and spas as specialty items, priced separately and sometimes after an on-site look.
- The Ottawa firms opened for this page print no hot tub price, so the number comes from the company that calls.
- A tub's shell, cabinet and pumps are weighed at the landfill, where household waste pays $172.70 a tonne past 250 kg.
When a hot tub has to go
A tub goes because the shell cracked, the pump failed, the deck is being replaced or nobody uses it. Whatever the reason, the removal is three jobs in order: empty the water, cut the power, haul the tub out.
Step one: the water
A hot tub holds hundreds of litres, and the City sets firm rules for where they go. Storm sewers carry rainwater and snowmelt to the nearest stream, creek, pond or river without treatment, and chlorinated or salt water harms aquatic life. The City says it should never be discharged to a storm sewer.
For a closure, the City lists three options. A plumber can connect the tub to the sanitary sewer. The water can go onto your own property if it is absorbed into the ground without flowing onto adjoining properties, over a valley or into a ravine, or causing erosion. Or a wastewater hauler with the right licence can take it. The rule sits in Sewer Use By-law 2025-94, Section 22; the City’s Sewer Use Duty Officer answers questions at 613-580-2424, extension 23326.
Tell the hauler on the request whether the tub is already drained. A full tub weighs far more than an empty one, and the company needs to know which it is.
Step two: the power
Most tubs run on a hardwired supply from the house panel. Disconnecting that wiring is an electrician’s job, and a switched-off breaker only makes it safe to wait. The safety-only step is to switch the tub’s breaker off and leave everything else in place. Ask the company if it disconnects, or if you book an electrician first. The answer decides the order of the two visits.
What drives the price
Hot tubs sit outside the truck-fraction price lists. Junk Gods, an Ottawa hauler, names hot tubs and spas among specialty items priced separately, and says they may need an on-site assessment. The same firm lists a single item at $135, a quarter truck at $365 and a full truck at $985, all plus tax. A hot tub does not fit those labels, so the company names its own number. What moves it:
- Access. A tub on a flat pad by a driveway is a short carry. A tub behind a house with a narrow gate, or in a basement, takes longer.
- Size and construction. Shell, cabinet, pumps, cover and the pad all add weight.
- Cutting up. Some tubs come out whole; some are taken apart on site.
- Disposal. The hauler pays the landfill by weight, and a heavy shell raises that line.
- Extras. A deck section, railing or a concrete pad is a second job. See shed and deck removal.
Rules at the landfill
The Trail Road landfill weighs residential garbage in and refuses asbestos and commercial garbage, so a crew strips out anything the site will not take before the load goes on the scale. Ask the company where the metal frame and pumps end up. If the tub comes with a gazebo, wood or a patio, renovation debris covers the other half of the job.
Timing in Ottawa
Ottawa winters put snow on the cover and the path. If the tub has to go between December and March, say so in the request and clear the route to the street. The City’s rule on draining applies in every season.
Who comes to the door
One independent hauling company receives the hot tub request and handles everything after that: it studies the three photos, asks about the breaker and the water, then gives a number and a date. Ottawa Junk Desk owns no saws and no trucks. For a larger clear-out on the same property, see garage cleanout or yard waste removal.
Questions to ask the company
- Is the removal price all-in: cutting it up or lifting it out, loading, and disposal?
- Who disconnects the electrical supply, and is that in your price?
- Does the price assume I have drained the tub, and what do you charge if water is still in it?
- Can the crew reach the tub through my gate and around the house, or do you need to lift it over a fence?
- What happens to the deck, railing or lawn if the crew needs to open or cross them?
Have this ready for the call
- Photos from three sides, plus the path to the street with gate width and any steps
- Brand and size of the tub, if the label or manual is still there
- A note on whether it sits on a pad, a deck, a gazebo or in a basement
- The breaker panel location and an electrician's name if you already have one
- A clear 2 metres around the tub and a clear route to the truck
Questions people ask
Where can I drain my hot tub in Ottawa?
The City’s discharge guidelines allow three routes on closure: a plumber’s sanitary sewer connection, your own property if the water soaks in without reaching neighbours, a ravine or causing erosion, or a wastewater hauler with the right licence. Chlorinated or salt water must never go to a storm sewer.
What is the fine for dumping pool or hot tub water?
The City names no figure on its guidelines page. It cites Sewer Use By-law 2025-94, Section 22, and says a contravention may bring further enforcement or fines. Water that reaches a stream, river, lake or storm sewer must be reported to the Spills Action Centre at 1-800-268-6060 and to 3-1-1.
Can an old hot tub go out with the City garbage?
A hot tub is a hardwired fixture the size of a small car, and the City’s special-items page offers no curb pickup for it. The three-item curb allowance was written for bags and chairs. Plan it as a hauler job from the start.
Why is a hot tub priced apart from a couch or a mattress?
One Ottawa hauler explains that some items need extra labour, equipment or disposal handling because of weight, size or rules, and puts hot tubs and spas in that group. A shell with a cabinet, pumps and wiring weighs far more than loose furniture, and the path out decides the crew size.
My hot tub is in the basement. Can it come out?
That is a question for the company that calls. Send the tub’s size, the stair count and the narrowest door or turn on the route, with photos. Those measurements decide the crew size, the time and whether the tub can leave the room in one piece.
Does the hauler dispose of the water too?
Assume not. The City treats the water as your responsibility: its closure options are a plumber’s sewer connection, your own property or a wastewater hauler. Drain the tub as the City permits before the crew arrives, or ask the company if it handles the water and what it charges.
