How to Drain a Waterbed Fast

Emptying a waterbed

Waterbeds are manufactured in three basic configurations. The "tube" waterbed is the oldest design that was superseded by the "semi-waveless" waterbed and ultimately by the "ultra-waveless" mattress. The latter is manufactured with a fiberfill in the mattress that prevents sloshing. When any one of these waterbed mattresses needs to be drained quickly, an electric pump will more easily facilitate the task than the tap-water-powered Venturi pump or the ubiquitous garden hose siphon.

Instructions

1. Unplug the waterbed heater. If left on while water is being removed from the mattress, it will eventually burn up and ruin it as well as the mattress and the mattress liner.

2. Remove any air bubbles from the mattress by pushing them with a broomstick or a similar object over the top of the waterbed mattress towards the open valve. This "burping" removes any air in the mattress that can "break" the built-up vacuum as the mattress is drained. The vacuum helps the pump to empty the mattress and is especially useful with the last 10 or so gallons that are the most difficult to remove.

3. Attach a water-mattress-emptying electric pump to the mattress' opened valve. These pumps are sold in waterbed retail stores and often are supplied with various mattress valve attachments. Attach the garden hose to the pump's exit port and run it to a water drain. The drain can be a toilet, a sink or a bathtub.

4. Close the valve and prevent air from backing into the mattress once it has been emptied. This makes it easier to fold and move the mattress and will prevent the fiberfill from bunching up and getting destroyed during storage.

Tips & Warnings

• Although the electric pump forces the water through the drain hose and into the drain, the job will be made easier by providing as much of a vertical drop between the mattress and the drain as possible. Gravity helps the pump move the water quicker than if the pump had to fight gravity to pump it uphill to a drain.

References

• Waterbed 101: Draining a Waterbed
• King of All Waterbeds: How to Drain a Waterbed
• e-Waterbeds: Electric Waterbed Pump