Pool Fill Cost Calculator
| Pool gallons | Fill cost at $6/1,000 | Hose hours | Summer top-off/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $60 | 14-19 hr | ~$10-20 |
| 15,000 | $90 | 21-28 hr | ~$15-30 |
| 25,000 | $150 | 35-46 hr | ~$25-50 |
Filling a pool is a water-bill event, not a hose mood: a 15,000-gallon pool at typical rates costs 60 to 120 dollars to fill from empty, runs a garden hose for 20 to 30 straight hours, and the water district may even fill it from a hydrant truck if you ask nicely and pay the same.
Bottom line: gallons divided by 1,000 times your rate per thousand gives the fill bill; the same pool loses an inch or two a week to evaporation in summer, which is 300 to 600 gallons of quiet top-off tax - the solar cover that stops it pays for itself in a season at most rates.
The honest part: the first fill is the cheap part of water math. Backwashing the filter and the splash-out and the August evaporation run the real annual water cost to two or three times the initial fill, and every one of those gallons is the same rate per thousand the calculator prices.
How to use
- Enter gallons (the pool volume calculator's number) and your water rate per 1,000 gallons from the bill - the tier that matters is often the top one.
- Read the fill cost and the hose hours at nine to twelve gallons a minute of standard garden flow; two hoses halve the overnight.
- Budget the top-off line separately: an inch a week of summer evaporation is the recurring tax the cover kills.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to fill a 15,000 gallon pool?
At the typical 4 to 8 dollars per thousand gallons, the fill runs 60 to 120 dollars - and many water districts charge their top residential tier once a pool enters the picture, so check the bill's last tier, not the first. A hydrant-truck fill costs similar or slightly more and finishes in an hour instead of a day and a half.
How long does it take to fill a pool with a garden hose?
A standard hose flows 9 to 12 gallons a minute, so 15,000 gallons is 21 to 28 hours of straight running - overnight and a day. Two hoses halve it; a fire-department hydrant meter finishes in an hour or two for a fee. The pool cover goes on only after the fill, and the first chemical test waits for the full volume.
How much water does a pool lose to evaporation?
A quarter to half an inch a day in peak summer heat and wind - an inch or two a week, which is 400 to 800 gallons on a 15,000-gallon pool, or 15 to 30 dollars a month of top-off at average rates. A liquid solar cover or a real one cuts evaporation by most of that, and the cover pays for itself in a season at most water rates.
Is it cheaper to fill a pool with delivered water?
Usually no for the first fill: delivered water runs 200 to 400 dollars for the same 15,000 gallons the hose fills for 60 to 120 - the premium buys speed and not touching the house's softener and filters with a pool's worth of raw water. Well-water households with iron or sulfur problems are the delivered-water customers, and they know it.