City Water vs. Well Water for Swimming Pools

City

• Assuming there are no restrictions in place against the practice, filling your swimming pool from a city water source will likely cost about an extra $80 to $100 dollars, the Texas Sierra Club says, though there can be a great variance in costs and rules from town to town. The thing to keep in mind is not to try and sneak in a clandestine pool filling when you think no one is looking. They have ways to monitor exactly where a system demand like that is coming from.

Private Well

• The issues involved with filling your pool from a private well are twofold. The rate of flow from a garden hose will probably take at least a few days, which places a burden on your well pump, because it will be constantly running for that length of time. The other factor is that you could conceivably lower the water level of your well enough that it goes dry or begins to pump out dirty water. Before starting, you should have a general idea of the characteristics of your local water table's depth.

Alternative

• Filling your pool from a private well or city water is fine in many cases, but if you suspect that an issue might arise whichever source you choose, it's perfectly legal to hire a water truck for the job. The cost might be more, but it puts less of a demand on communal resources and allows you to complete the job more quickly than you can by draping a standard garden hose over the edge and turning on the tap.

Considerations

• Before you begin putting water in the pool via any manner, take the time to calculate exactly how much water you're going to need. The Texas Sierra Club offers a simple equation for that: (length of pool) x (width of pool) x (average depth of pool) x 7.5 = gallons of water needed. If you have an oddly shaped pool or one with different depths, use approximate numbers. Having a ballpark idea is better than no idea at all. If you have a mathematician in the family, so much the better.