How fast does a walk-in tub drain after your bath?

An Ella walk-in tub connected to a proper 2 inch drain line typically empties in two minutes or less, an average-size Ella tub drains in about 80 seconds under ideal house-drain conditions, and Ella's own field test recorded complete drainage in 52 seconds. That speed comes from gravity and from two oversized 2 inch floor drains rather than a pump, the system explained in What Is Technologie double vidange on a Walk-In Tub?. Your own drain time depends on how much water your model holds, how many drain ports your plumber connects, and how freely your house drain flows, and this page walks through each of those factors.

The Published Drain Times, and Why They Differ

Several figures appear across Ella's documents and videos, and they are all consistent once you know what each one measures.

• 52 seconds: the time recorded in Ella's field test, shown in the video on this page. The video adds that drainage in your home will depend on drain conditions and the piping of the house.
• About 80 seconds: the figure Ella gives for an average-size tub under ideal house-drain conditions.
• Two minutes or less: the typical time for most Ella tubs once connected to a proper 2 inch drain line, which is the figure to plan around in a real home.
• About 3 minutes 30 seconds: the time mentioned in the Big4Two video for that 145 gallon two-seat tub, the largest capacity in the line.
• About 150 seconds: the drain time for the HomeCare Transfer Bathtub, which is built for caregiver-supervised bathing and fills from an internal tank.

The spread is mostly about volume. Most standard-size Ella walk-in tubs hold 65 to 107 gallons unoccupied, and you typically use 30 to 75 gallons per bath once you are seated, while the largest models hold up to 145 gallons. More gallons through the same two drains means more seconds. Because you sit in the tub until it empties, drain speed is a comfort feature rather than a technical detail, and it is one of the first things owners notice about the tub.

Why Gravity and Two 2 Inch Drains Empty the Tub so Quickly

The industry-standard bathtub drain is a single 1.5 inch opening. Most Ella walk-in tubs instead use two independent 2 inch drains, each with its own opener on the deck and each ending in a T-type PVC body with four 2 inch ports under the tub. The video on this page shows the parts: large dial openers with extenders for an easier grip and turn, floor drain covers that adjust in height for the best seal and drain function, and a stainless steel cable with a lever that opens and closes each floor drain. The dials also function as overflow protection, and the dual drain works as a vent system that relieves air pockets so water keeps moving instead of gurgling.

The system is purely gravity driven. There is no drain pump, so a power outage or a pump fault can never leave a bather sitting in a full tub. Drainage and Fill Time describes the same principle from the owner's side: water flows straight down through the two 2 inch openings and out of the tub.

What Your Plumber Can Do to Get the Fastest Drain

When a tub drains slowly, the cause is almost always between the tub and the sewer main, and most of it is decided on installation day.

1. Size the house drain the tub ties into at 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches, with 2 inches recommended where possible. A smaller or partially blocked branch line slows the tub no matter how good the tub's drains are.
2. Decide how many ports to connect. Connecting two ports is common, and connecting all four ports gives the fastest gravity flow. Unused ports are closed with the included end caps.
3. Use a Y fitting rather than a T where the tub joins the house line. Fewer sharp turns move water faster.
4. Verify that the existing drain is clear and properly vented before the tub goes in. An old, clogged or poorly vented house drain is the most frequent reason a new tub drains slowly.
5. Keep the gravity design. Powered drains can be faster but put stress on house plumbing and stop working when the power goes out.

The size of the sewer main is not one of the factors. Will a 3-Inch Sewer Line Make My Walk-In Tub Drain Slower Than a 4-Inch Line? explains that a 3 inch main is already larger than the 2 inch outlets and the branch line feeding it, so moving to a 4 inch main does not speed the tub up. The same reasoning applies to a septic system, because the tub still drains by gravity into the house line.

Which Ella Tubs Have Two Drains, and Which Have One

Technologie double vidange is standard on the stainless-door, Ultra, outward-swing, two-seat and Transfer families: the Elite, Petite, Royal, Deluxe, Ultimate, Ultra, Capri, Monaco, Mobile, Lounger, ShaK, Big4One, Tub4Two, Companion, Escape, Big4Two, Transfer26, Transfer30, Transfer32, Transfer60 and TransferXXL. Not every Ella tub uses it. The Standard, Standard60, Zen, Zen60 and Flow have one 2 inch gravity drain with an emergency pull-up chain, the Front Entry has a single 2 inch 2-port drain, and the LayDown tubs use a single brass drain. The two-minutes-or-less figure is for the dual drain tubs on a 2 inch line, so if you are comparing a single-drain model, ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 how that model is expected to perform on your plumbing.

Draining as Part of the Whole Bath

Drain speed matters because of what comes before it. Ella tubs fill after you are seated, and the Ella faucet is capable of a fill rate of about 16 gallons per minute, so the time from sitting down to bathing and from finishing to stepping out is short at both ends. How long does it take to fill a walk-in tub? covers the fill side, including water heater sizing. If you rinse with the hand shower or a shower column, that water leaves through the same two drains, as Can you take a shower in a walk-in tub? describes.

Three habits keep the drain at full speed once you own the tub. Open both drain handles completely when you are ready to empty the tub, since a partly opened drain is a partly closed drain. Close both handles completely before filling so the tub holds water. If the tub seems slower than it was, have a local licensed plumber confirm the house drain flows freely, because two drains cannot fix a restricted house line. Ella does not send technicians, and any drain part needed under the warranty ships to you for your plumber to fit.

Watch: Walk-In Tubs with Technologie double vidange - Easy & Fast Drainage | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

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