When it comes to your swimming pool, water is the most important part. After all, isn’t that why people build pools? Even the coolest, most artistic, most beautiful swimming pool is relatively useless if the water inside is bad. Keeping water clean, clear, and balanced is a tricky business. It takes care and commitment, but it is well worth it. And, once you get the hang of it, it’s really not that bad. The hard part comes when your water is thrown out of balance by something–usually by adding more water. That is when the most work needs to be done to return your water to the proper balance.
There are different ways to fill up a swimming pool. For a standard swimming pool opening, hose water is adequate for most homeowners. However, some homeowners have trouble with hard water or other problems with their well water. Sometimes, homeowners may be tempted to fill their swimming pools from easy sources, but that might not always be the best option. For example, filling a swimming pool from a fire hydrant can create a lot of problems with the water balance, and can result in cloudy water that can take days or weeks to straighten out. Similarly, filling a pool with an outdoor water source like a pond or stream can leave a homeowner with dirty or cloudy water that is incredibly difficult to balance.
If your water is questionable, we highly recommend you hire a water truck to fill your swimming pool for you. Most water trucks can hold from 8,000 to 9,000 gallons of water. This water is clean, clear, and of great quality. For a swimming pool opening, if you have qualms about your hose water or whatever other water source you might use, one truck of water should be sufficient. If you are having your liner replaced, your gunite acid washed, or need to fill your pool completely for another reason, most swimming pools will take 2 trucks. In most cases, it’s perfectly okay to top off your swimming pool with hose water or another water source, but it is really important that the majority of the pool is filled with clean, high-quality water.
If there is any question at all, we think it’s worth it to get a water truck. It is much easier to maintain clean and balanced water when it starts out clean. It will make your pool season much more enjoyable, you’ll be able to swim sooner, and you won’t have to fight with your water chemistry all summer long trying to get it in balance.