Old Pools, Big Trees, Narrow Gates
What Makes a West Austin Pool Different to Service
Fill water is the one thing West Austin pools have in common. All of it is Austin Water, moderately hard at 70 to 126 ppm total hardness, and even the Lake Austin waterfront homes that irrigate from the lake fill their pools from the tap. The complication is age. A pool in Bryker Woods or Old West Austin that has gone years without a partial drain has concentrated every summer's evaporation into the water, and calcium of 300 to 500 ppm is common. On older plaster that matters twice: high calcium and high pH scale the finish, and water that's too soft etches it.
So the chemistry program here is about protecting a finish that may be decades old. We hold pH at 7.4 to 7.6 and alkalinity at 80 to 120 ppm, calculate the saturation index every visit, and keep calcium inside 200 to 400 ppm, which sometimes means scheduling a partial drain in a cool month, never in August. Salt cells push pH up and cal-hypo adds calcium, so we choose products with the old plaster in mind. When the pecans drop in October and November, chlorine demand rises and tannins tint the water, so we skim harder and keep the residual up.
Then there's the canopy. Tarrytown, Pemberton, and Bryker Woods sit under mature pecan and live oak: husks and leaves from October into November, catkins in March and April, and deep shade where algae starts. The lots are small and the side yards tight, and many pads still run the DE filter and single-speed pump from the last remodel. Northwest Hills and the 78733 hillsides add long plumbing runs, Lake Austin lots add wind and lake pollen, and the teardown-and-rebuild cycle in 78703 keeps construction dust in the air. The expectation on these streets is simple: quiet, punctual, invisible.
