A garden hose running for two days leaves plenty of room for a pause, and a pause can leave a ring line in the finish.
A tanker brings 6,000 to 8,000 gallons a load, so a typical new in-ground pool is 2 to 5 loads and usually full the same day. We book our vetted hauler for you, plan back-to-back loads around your plaster date, and send you one delivered price before anything is booked. Start my quote and tell us it is a new finish.
Who this is for
- Homeowners with a new in-ground pool and a fill date from the builder.
- Pools with fresh plaster, pebble or quartz after a replaster. See refills after a drain or replaster.
- New vinyl-liner pools, where the liner is set and smoothed as the first inches go in.
- New above-ground pools, which many manufacturers want filled slowly for the first few inches. See above-ground pool fills.
- Homes on a well, where a first fill would run the pump for a day or more and can pull iron into the new finish. See pool fills for well homes.
Why new plaster wants a continuous fill
Pool professionals recommend filling a new finish without stopping and keeping everyone out of the pool until it is full. Your plasterer will give you these reasons:
- Ring lines. Fresh plaster is still curing when the water goes in. If the water sits at one level for hours, a visible line can form at the pause.
- Stream marks. A hose stream pointed straight at new plaster can mark the floor. That is why builders ask for a soft cloth or sock over the hose end.
- Start-up window. Fresh plaster has its own start-up routine, often daily brushing and careful pH and alkalinity control for several weeks. It begins as soon as the water is in, so the fill and the start-up are planned together. The specifics vary by product and plasterer.
Your plasterer's instructions come first on every point. If they tell you something different from this page, follow them.
Loads and typical cost
| New pool | Typical volume | Loads at 6,000 to 8,000 gal | Typical range (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above-ground | 5,000 to 15,000 gal | 1 to 2 | $300 to $900 |
| In-ground | 15,000 to 30,000 gal | 2 to 5 | $600 to $1,500+ |
| Large in-ground or pool and spa | 30,000 to 40,000 gal | 4 to 7 | Per load, $250 to $600 each |
Estimates, not offers; prices vary by area and distance. Full breakdown on the pricing page. Your builder's plans or the gallons calculator give you the volume.
How a new pool fill works
- Get the fill date from your builder. Plasterers usually want filling to start right after the finish is applied. Ask for the day, the earliest start time, and anything they want on the hose end.
- Request the quote and say it is a new finish. The form asks directly. That tells us to plan a continuous fill: for bigger pools we ask the hauler about back-to-back loads or a second truck so there is no long pause.
- Get one delivered price. Number of loads, date and arrival window, usually within 1-2 business hours. The quote is held for 7 days. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
- Book as soon as you have the date. Spring and early summer are busy for builders and haulers alike. Date changes are free until 24 hours before delivery, so booking early costs nothing if the plaster slips a day.
- Fill day. The truck parks on the street or driveway and runs its hose up to about 300 feet to the pool. The driver puts the cloth on the hose end, and the water goes in, load after load.
- Mid-skimmer, then hand-off. The fill stops at about the middle of the skimmer opening. From there the pump, the filter and the start-up chemistry are between you and your builder.
Before the truck arrives
- Confirm the start time with the plaster crew the day before. If the finish is delayed, tell us as soon as you know. Changes are free until 24 hours out; inside that, a cancellation costs 20% of the quoted price.
- Have the sock or cloth ready for the hose end.
- Clear the hose route and unlock the gate. New-construction yards are full of obstacles.
- Keep the pool empty of people, tools and debris until it is full.
- Know who starts the pump. The hauler delivers the water and leaves; equipment start-up is not part of the delivery. Ask your builder before fill day whether they, their start-up technician or you are starting the pump, so nobody assumes someone else is doing it.
- Read the start-up routine. Our after-the-fill checklist covers the first 48 hours for an existing finish; new plaster has its own sequence from your builder.
A worked example
A new 32 x 16 ft rectangle, 3.5 ft shallow end and 6 ft deep end, pebble finish. Average depth 4.75 ft, so 32 x 16 x 4.75 x 7.5 = 18,240 gallons.
- Loads: 3 on an 8,000-gallon truck, 4 on a 6,000-gallon truck.
- Typical cost: 3 to 4 loads at $250 to $600 each, so roughly $750 to $1,500 or more depending on area. The quote names the figure.
- Schedule: the plasterer finishes by noon Tuesday and wants water within the hour. We book the first load for a 12:30 arrival window and the hauler runs the following loads back to back, or a second truck, so the pool never sits at one level for long.
- Hose: 90 feet from the curb through a 4-foot side gate. No extra-hose charge.
- Hand-off: the builder's start-up tech comes Wednesday morning to start the pump and begin the plaster chemistry.
The same pool by garden hose at 8 gallons a minute would take about 38 hours.
How long does it take to fill a new pool?
By truck, each load unloads in well under an hour, and the gap between loads is the round trip to the hauler's water source. A 2 to 5 load pool is usually full the same day. By hose at 5 to 10 gallons a minute, a 20,000-gallon pool takes 33 to 67 hours; see the trucked water vs hose comparison.
The water comes from a vetted local hauler
Every first fill goes to one of our water haulers, each of whom has shown us a current certificate of insurance and a bond. A person confirms truck size, hose reach, water source and the date before your price goes out, and we stay your single point of contact until the pool is full. One delivered price, one invoice, nothing charged before delivery.
Get your first-fill price
Tell us the ZIP, the gallons, the plaster date and the hose distance, and say it is a new finish. A person plans a continuous fill and sends you one delivered price. Get your delivered price, or see how pool water delivery works.
