How Long Does it Take to Fill Up Your Pool With a Garden Hose
Depending on the size, filling up an empty pool with a hose can take anywhere between 10 hours to a couple of days.
Bottom line, it takes some time. To know exactly how long it will take, you’ll need to know your pool’s volume and hour garden hose’s flow rate in gallons per minute (GPM).
If you know both, use our calculator to make it easy!
Get a Quick Estimate
If you are using a standard garden hose with average municipal water pressure, your hose delivers roughly 9 GPM. With baseline in mind, here is a realistic look at your waiting timeline:
- Small inflatable pool (~1,000 gallons): Under 2 hours.
- Medium Above-Ground Pool (~5,000 gallons): Around 9 hours.
- Large Above-Ground Pool (~13,500 gallons): Around 1 day and 1 hour.
- Standard Inground Pool (~20,000 gallons): Around 1 day and 13 hours.
- Large Inground Pool (~30,000 gallons): Around 2 days and 7 hours.
If you have a massive in-ground pool, you are looking at a multi-day project. To find out exactly where your pool falls on the spectrum, you just need to follow a simple three-step process.
Step 1: Calculate Your Pool’s Exact Volume
Before you can figure out how long it will take to fill, you need to know how much water you’re dealing with.
If you don’t know your exact amount, use our pool volume calculator to get a good estimate.
Step 2: Test Your Hose’s Flow Rate
Not all outdoor spigots are created equal. Factors like your home’s plumbing, plumbing age, and hose diameter will change your fill time.
Don’t guess your water pressure. You can test it in under a minute using a 5-gallon bucket. Here is the process:
- Grab a standard 5-gallon bucket.
- Turn your garden hose on full blast and start filling the bucket.
- Time exactly how many seconds it takes to fill the bucket to the 5-gallon mark.
- Plug the seconds into this quick formula to find your Gallons Per Minute (GPM):
For example: If it takes 33 seconds to fill your bucket:
(5 ÷ 33) x 60 = 9.09 GPM
Step 3: Run the Final Calculation
Now, divide your pool volume to your hose’s GPM to get your final countdown. Let’s say your pool is 15,000 gallons:
15,000 ÷ 9.09 = 1,650.17 minutes
Convert that to hours by dividing by 60:
1,650.17 ÷ 60 = 27.5 Hours
It will take you approximately 1 day and 3.5 hours to fill your 15,000-gallon pool.
Using Well Water? Con
If your home runs on a private well, you can still fill a pool with well water.
However, do not leave your hose running continuously for 24 to 48 hours. Doing so is a fast track to burning out your expensive well pump or drying out your well entirely.
Fill the pool in cautious stage (2 hours on, 2 hours off) to let the water table and your pump recover.
Use a Hose Or Call a Water Truck?
If the math tells you it’s going to take 40 hours to fill your pool, you might want to consider alternative options.
Many pool owners choose to call a bulk water delivery service. A water truck can back right up to your yard and drop 30,000 gallons into your pool in less than an hour.
It costs more upfront than municipal tap water, but if you want to skip the multi-day stakeout and dive right in, it might just be worth every penny.
Otherwise, get comfortable, keep an eye on the water level, and let the garden hose do its slow and steady work!