Blog · October 28, 2026 · 5 min read
Draining a pool in Scottsdale: where the water can go
Draining a pool in Scottsdale means sending the water to your own landscape or into your home's sewer cleanout. The City of Scottsdale says never to the street, a neighbor's yard or the storm drain. A full drain is also step 1 of every resurface. The rules are short and the timing is simple math. Here is where the water goes, how long a drain takes, how often Arizona pools need one and where it fits in a resurface.
Arizona water and sun
Where can pool water go when draining a pool in Scottsdale?
Pool water can go onto your own yard or into your home's sanitary sewer cleanout. The City of Scottsdale says it should never go to the street, and it must not flow into a neighbor's property or the storm drain (City of Scottsdale, Protect Your Water (opens in a new tab)).
Storm drains are meant for flood prevention, not wastewater, and the city calls street discharge a violation of local, state and federal regulations. The sewer is the normal choice when there is more water than your plants can take, and the city says pool water drained to its sewer system is treated and recycled for later use.
Good to know
How do you drain a pool onto your landscape?
Wait 3 to 7 days after treatments, check that the pH is in the 7 to 8 range, and keep every gallon on your own yard. Those are the city's conditions for the landscape option.
Pool water carries more salt and chlorine than tap water, so move the hose often to avoid stagnant puddles that attract mosquitoes.
Plants matter. The city lists oleander, bougainvillea, rosemary, Bermuda grass and olive as salt tolerant, and fruit trees, star jasmine, hop bush, roses, jojoba and hibiscus as salt sensitive, so those get no pool water.
4 steps
How do you drain a pool into the sewer cleanout?
Run a submersible pump hose into the cleanout and keep the flow to 50 gallons per minute or less, which is the city's rule of thumb. The city's steps are:
Find the sanitary sewer cleanout and remove the cap.
For a full drain, shut off power to the filtration system and turn off the automatic fill valve, if there is one.
Secure the hose from the pump to the cleanout pipe so it cannot pop out.
Start the pump and watch for backups, shower and tub first
If water backs up, turn the pump off.
Homes older than 20 years may not have a cleanout, and the city keeps no records of where they sit on private property. It points to a plumbing contractor to find or install one.
Timing
How long does draining a pool take?
For a sewer drain at the city's 50 gallon per minute ceiling, every 10,000 gallons takes at least 3 hours and 20 minutes. A pool that holds 20,000 gallons takes at least 6 hours and 40 minutes.
That is plain division: gallons divided by 50 gives minutes, and a slower pump takes longer.
Timing
How often should you drain a pool in Arizona?
There is no fixed schedule: Scottsdale Water says pools seldom require draining when chemical levels are properly maintained (City of Scottsdale, Water Conservation for Homeowners (opens in a new tab)). A test result is the trigger, not a calendar date.
Fill water here arrives hard, with 13 to 17 grains per gallon of hardness depending on the zone and total dissolved solids from 325 to 710 ppm in the city's 2025 testing (City of Scottsdale 2026 Water Quality Report (opens in a new tab)). Evaporation leaves those minerals behind, and the city's table has a 400 square foot pool losing 10.8 inches in June and 2.4 inches in December.
The Arkansas Department of Health's guide for pool operators says dissolved solids rise as water evaporates. For a commercial pool above 3,000 ppm, it calls a partial drain and refill with fresh water the fix, since no chemical lowers them (Arkansas Department of Health (opens in a new tab)).
A partial drain for chemistry is a different job from the full drain that starts a resurface.
Arizona water and sun
Should a drained pool sit empty in Arizona heat?
Keep the empty stretch short and plan it around groundwater and the weather, not around a number of days. No official guide we checked gives a safe number of days for an empty pool in Arizona.
The Arkansas Department of Health guide does name a hazard: do not drain a pool when the water table is high, which it ties to continuous rain, low terrain or a missing hydrostatic valve in the main drain, because groundwater pressure can crack or float the shell.
Arizona's monsoon season officially runs June 15 through September 30 (NWS Phoenix (opens in a new tab)). Phoenix also averages 111 days a year at 100 F or higher in the 1991 to 2020 normals (NWS Phoenix, extreme heat (opens in a new tab)). That is one reason drain dates get planned around the calendar, and why fall and winter are often an easier window.
Timing
How does draining fit into a resurface timeline?
The drain comes first, because the old finish cannot be chipped out, the shell cannot be inspected and the new finish cannot go on while the pool holds water. A national 2026 cost guide puts a standalone resurface at about 5 to 7 days, and drain, clean and refill at about $425 to $475.
The order is drain, chip-out, shell inspection, prep, new finish, then a prompt fill and a start-up period of water care. The Scottsdale pool resurfacing guide walks through each step, and pool replastering covers the plaster version of the job.
Refill timing has a local wrinkle. Scottsdale sets sewer rates from December, January and February water use, so a refill in those months can make water use look higher than what reached the sewer. The city lets you request a sewer charge adjustment by August 31 (City of Scottsdale, Protect Your Water (opens in a new tab)).
4 questions
Questions people ask
Still have a question? Call (747) 243-2089 and say what your pool is doing.
Can you drain a pool into the street in Scottsdale?
Pool water should never go to the street, according to the City of Scottsdale. Street discharge flows untreated into the flood control system and breaks local, state and federal rules.
How long should you wait before draining a pool?
The city says to wait 3 to 7 days after treatments so the chlorine can dissipate, with the pH in the 7 to 8 range. It lists that wait under its landscape option.
Does draining a pool cost extra in a resurface?
Drain, clean and refill is listed at about $425 to $475 in a national 2026 cost guide, separate from the finish. The pool resurfacing cost page shows the full breakdown by size and finish.
Can a pool be drained completely at any time?
Groundwater decides that. The Arkansas Department of Health guide says not to drain when the water table is high, because pressure can crack or float the shell.
Keep reading
- Pool replastering: for what happens after the pool is drained.
- Pool resurfacing guide: for the full step by step order.
- Pool resurfacing cost: for the drain, clean and refill line.
- Pool resurfacing cost calculator: for a range from your own pool size.
- Best time to resurface a pool: for monsoon and swim season timing.
