Pool Drain and Acid Wash in Rockwall, TX

What a pool acid wash does, and when it's used

The Council's glossary also describes a gentler version: a low-strength, diluted acid solution that removes certain stains, dirt, precipitants or marks with little, if any, of the surface compromised. The acid itself is pool muriatic acid, which the Council's start-up card describes as 31–33% hydrochloric acid.

Cleaning a stained or dull finish

An acid wash works by dissolving material on the plaster's surface, so how often it is done matters, as the questions below explain. Some stains can be treated with the pool still full instead; pool plaster repair covers those in-water treatments and the spot repairs a worn finish may need.

Before a bond coat or a new finish

SGM's Bond Kote instructions call for removing mildew, algae, fungus and rust before its bond coat goes on, either by sandblasting or by an acid wash followed by neutralizing with soda ash, and for heavily sanding or water-blasting any surface that is unusually soft, painted, peeling or flaking. The prepared plaster has to be rough and porous enough to absorb water. That preparation is the first stage of pool replastering over old plaster.

The waterline tile

Calcium scale on the tile band at the water line is a separate job with its own methods, pool tile cleaning and calcium removal.

Drain water, drought stages and the refill in Rockwall

Acid wash water can't simply go down the street. SGM discards the runoff after it is diluted and neutralized, and Rockwall's storm-water code accepts, as a defense to its ban, only dechlorinated pool water with no harmful amounts of chemicals and a pH of 6.5 to 8.5; the same ordinance lists pool chemicals as household hazardous waste that must stay out of streets and storm drains.

Reusing the water on the property

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's reuse rules let pool drain water go onto landscaping without its authorization, but not within five days of an acid or shock treatment, never so that it ponds or runs across property lines or onto paving, and never through a connection to a sewer or septic system.

Drought stages

Stage 1 of Rockwall's drought plan asks all users to drain and refill pools less often, and the later stages can go further. As of October 4, 2026, no stage was named on the City's official pages, so check the current stage with the City before the drain-down. East of Rockwall, Union Valley's water comes through Cash Special Utility District, whose plan makes the same Stage 1 request and limits draining and refilling in its Stage 3, and Rockwall Pool Resurfacing also handles pool acid wash in Union Valley.

Refilling and rebalancing

Once the pool is refilled, the National Plasterers Council wants the water tested right away for pH, cyanuric acid, carbonate alkalinity, calcium hardness, total dissolved solids, chlorine, metals and temperature, and balanced by its start-up procedure, a process that can take 7 to 10 days. Timing the drain around the weather is covered in the guide on when to resurface a pool in Rockwall.

Pool acid wash questions and answers