Pool service in San Antonio

SAWS ties its stages to the Edwards Aquifer's 10-day average at the J-17 well: Stage 1 at 660 feet, Stage 2 at 650, Stage 3 at 640, with Stage 4 declared by the City Manager. The rules reach every SAWS customer, including those outside the city limits. The stage moves, so check the SAWS drought page before you schedule a drain and refill.

The Stage 3 surcharge is $10.37 per 1,000 gallons above 20,000 gallons a month for single-family accounts; in Stage 4 the threshold falls to 12,000 gallons. SAWS has said refilling a pool could trigger those surcharges. Ask your pool service whether a partial drain, or treating the water instead, gets you the same result.

SAWS also bans water waste and runoff at all times. A first non-compliance charge for a single-family site is $137, which a one-hour online course can waive, so ask how your service handles backwash water.

HomeGuide's national figures (September 2025): a weekly or every-other-week cleaning service runs $80 to $150 a month, about $960 to $1,800 a year. A first-time cleaning visit costs $150 to $350, and repairing a pump motor $50 to $300 against $150 to $800 to replace it.

Texas treats pool maintenance as a taxable service at homes and businesses alike, and that includes a self-employed cleaner working at a house, so sales tax belongs on the bill. The Texas cost guide is on our pool service hub.

The checks follow the type of work. TDLR lets a Residential Appliance Installer license holder replace pumps, motors, heaters, lights, GFCIs and automation on the load side of the control center. A new or upgraded line circuit is different: only a licensed electrical contractor with a master electrician may offer it, so that part may need an electrician in San Antonio.

If you're on an HOA or apartment board, Texas's pool enclosure law applies to those pools, not ordinary backyard ones: at least 48 inches high, with gaps that won't pass a 4-inch sphere. Public pools, under DSHS rules, must run under a trained, certified operator.

Safety belongs in the service conversation too. Texas DFPS counted 88 child drownings in 2025, in locations that included backyard pools, and says a child should never be left unsupervised around water. Ask your service to flag a broken gate latch or a cloudy pool you can't see the bottom of.

For the city's other rules, see the San Antonio guide, or compare pool service in New Braunfels.