Pool Fill Cost Calculator

How the cost is worked out

Filling a pool from the tap is simple arithmetic:

Cost = gallons ÷ 1,000 × (water rate + sewer rate)

Both rates come from your water bill. If your bill shows prices per CCF or HCF (100 cubic feet), that’s 748 gallons, and the calculator converts it for you.

For a delivery truck, the cost is the number of loads, rounded up, times the price per load. Haulers charge per trip, so a pool that needs 3.2 loads pays for 4.

The table uses the EPA WaterSense national averages. Real rates range from far below to far above these, so use your own bill for a number you can budget on.

Reading your water bill

Look for two usage charges, not the fixed monthly fee:

• Water (sometimes “consumption” or “commodity”), priced per 1,000 gallons, per CCF, or per HCF.
• Sewer or wastewater, usually priced the same way and often higher than the water charge.

If your utility uses tiers, the first gallons in a billing period are cheaper and the last ones dearer. A pool fill lands mostly in the top tiers, so use the highest tier you’ll reach for a realistic estimate.

Ask about a sewer credit first

Pool water never goes down the drain, but a single meter can’t tell the difference. Some utilities will waive or credit the sewer charge for a pool fill if you call before you start, and some offer a separate meter for outdoor water. At the national average rates, sewer is a little over half the cost, so a five-minute call can roughly halve the bill.

How long it takes

Fill time depends almost entirely on your hose’s flow rate, and that varies with water pressure, hose diameter and length. The guide to how long it takes to fill a pool has times by pool size. To measure your own flow:

1. Open the outdoor tap fully with the hose attached.
2. Time how many seconds it takes to fill a 5-gallon bucket.
3. Enter that time in the calculator. Thirty seconds is 10 gallons a minute; sixty seconds is 5.

Hours = gallons ÷ (gallons per minute × number of hoses) ÷ 60

A second hose only helps if it runs from a different tap with its own pressure. Two hoses split from one spigot share the same flow. Running other taps, a dishwasher or a sprinkler system at the same time slows the fill, so check on it regularly and don’t leave it running overnight without a plan to shut it off.

Delivery truck or hose?

A water hauler fills a pool in hours instead of days, which matters when the pool is empty in hot weather, when a liner needs water to hold its shape, or when you’re on a well. It almost always costs more than city water. Get the price per load and the load size in writing, check that the water is potable, and make sure the truck can reach your yard without crossing a septic field or soft lawn. The pool water delivery guide covers typical prices, how many truckloads your pool needs and what to ask a hauler.

Filling from a well

Well water costs only the electricity to run the pump, but filling a pool can mean running the well for a day or more. Ask a well contractor whether yours can sustain it, or fill in stages so the well can recover. Well water often carries iron, copper or manganese, which can stain surfaces or turn the water green or brown when you add chlorine. Test for metals before you balance the water; the cloudy pool guide explains what metals look like.

Topping up after a partial drain

Switch the calculator to “Topping up” and enter your surface area and the inches you need to add. Each inch over a 16 × 32 ft pool is about 320 gallons. If you’re refilling after draining to lower stabilizer or calcium, the CYA guide explains how much to drain. If you keep topping up more than you expect, the pool water loss calculator turns the drop into gallons a day and walks you through a bucket test for leaks.

After the pool is full

Fresh fill water is rarely balanced. Test free chlorine, pH, alkalinity, calcium and stabilizer, then follow the pool opening planner to bring each into range in the right order.