Blog

Jun 14, 2023

If you own a pool, SAWS will pay you to make this one improvement

Pools such as this one in Hill Country Village need a filter to keep the water

Pools such as this one in Hill Country Village need a filter to keep the water clean. If you own a pool and you're a San Antonio Water System customer, SAWS will pay you to upgrade to a high-efficiency filter. Your water consumption will go down by thousands of gallons per year, according to SAWS.

If you have a backyard pool, you need a filtering system to keep the water clean, and the San Antonio Water System wants you to install the high-efficiency, water-saving kind.

In fact, SAWS will pay you to do it.

The city-owned utility won't cover the entire cost of a new filter, but it will chip in $250.

Simple. You buy a new high-efficiency pool filter and send SAWS a receipt and an application for a rebate. SAWS will apply a $250 credit to your water bill.

Any SAWS customer who owns a pool and currently uses one of two types of less-efficient filters.

Sayonara to lawns: SAWS will pay you to replace turf with drought-resistant plants

The three most common kinds are sand filters, diatomaceous earth (or D.E.) filters and high-efficiency cartridge filters. The last one is the kind SAWS wants you to install.

Pools such as this one on Sawgrass Ridge on the far North Side can add considerably to a home's value. They're also expensive to operate and maintain. Installing a high-efficiency pool filter can reduce your water consumption and your water bill. The San Antonio Water System will pay you to replace an old, inefficient filter with a high-efficiency cartridge type.

A sand filtering system works the way you'd expect: Pool water is pushed through a sand medium that traps dirt and debris. Sand filters are the most common and generally the least expensive kind.

D.E. filters use diatomaceous earth as the filtering medium.

Diatoms are single-cell algae. Over eons, their fossilized remains accumulated in deposits across the western United States. Diatomaceous earth, crushed into a fine white powder, is a marvelous medium for filtering water; it can capture contaminants as small as 1 to 3 microns. A micron is one-millionth of a meter. A human hair is 50 microns wide. A strand of a spider web is 3 to 8 microns. In other words, hardly anything gets through these filters.

Behavior mod: SAWS will pay you to take nature walks and attend classes to become "water-wise"

They're not the most water-efficient. Both D.E. and sand filters have to be backwashed regularly to remove all the gunk they trap. That takes time and lots of water. If you have a D.E. or sand filter, you're paying for that extra water usage.

It uses a reinforced polyester screen as the filtering medium. Cartridge filters can trap particles as small as 5 microns. Not bad. They need regular cleaning but — and this is key — they don't have to be backwashed. That makes a huge difference. According to SAWS, a pool equipped with a high-efficiency cartridge filter uses 20,000 fewer gallons of water per year than one with a sand or D.E. filter.

Your pool-related water consumption depends heavily on what kind of filtering system you use. Replacing a sand filter or a diatomaceous earth (D.E.) filter with a high-efficiency cartridge filter can save you thousands of gallons per year. The San Antonio Water System will pay you to make the switch.

All three kinds of filters described here will keep your pool water clean enough for people to swim in safely. Each kind has its pros and cons, and which you select will depend on how big your pool is, how much you can afford to spend and other factors. We aren't saying one kind is better than the others. We're just here to tell you that SAWS much prefers high-efficency cartridge filters — and will pay you to install one.

It varies according to the size of your pool and the manufacturer, but in general, you can expect to spend from $700 to $1,500.

Go here for an application for the Swimming Pool Filter Replacement Rebate. Fill it out and put it in an envelope, along with your receipt.

Mail it to SAWS Conservation, PO Box 2449, San Antonio 78298-2449

SAWS may contact you to verify installation of the filter.

Just the standard disclaimer that applies to all SAWS rebates, coupons and other conservation incentives: "Program availability may be subject to budget limitations."