Orlando Hard Water and Your New Pool Finish: What to Know
OUC reports about 7 grains per gallon of hardness, and Orlando averages 109.9 days a year at 90 °F or more. Here is what that means for a new finish and what to ask for.
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A new plaster, quartz or pebble finish is a large investment, and the first weeks after the pool is refilled are when owners have the most questions. In Orlando, two local facts shape those questions: the water that fills the pool and the heat it sits in. This article sets out what the sources say, where they stop, and what to ask your contractor to put in writing.
What OUC reports about Orlando’s water
Orlando Utilities Commission reports: “The average hardness of OUC water is 129 ppm or 7 gpg (grains per gallon).” That figure appears on OUC’s water pages without a report year, so treat it as an average rather than a reading for any one month. OUC says its water comes from the Lower Floridan Aquifer, “a quarter of a mile below the earth’s surface,” and is treated with ozone.
OUC serves the City of Orlando and portions of unincorporated Orange County. It is the only utility in the area that research for this site found publishing a hardness figure. The reports checked for Orange County Utilities, Seminole County, Toho Water Authority, Winter Park and Oviedo contain no hardness value, so if one of those utilities serves your home, ask it directly rather than borrowing OUC’s number. Water-softener sales pages publish their own local figures, but they conflict with each other and are not used here.
Where 7 grains sits on the hardness scale
A Water Quality Association scale, as summarized from a Florida Public Service Commission filing, puts 3.5–7.0 grains per gallon in the “moderately hard” band and 7.0–10.5 in the “hard” band. That summary is secondhand and was not checked against the filing itself, so read it as a rough guide. On that scale, OUC’s figure sits right at the boundary between moderately hard and hard.
Chlorine, chloramines and fluoride, as OUC states them
- OUC says chlorine is added and “the average concentration is 1.0 ppm.”
- Asked “Does OUC use chloramines?”, OUC answers: “No.”
- OUC says it stopped adding fluoride on July 1, 2025.
OUC does not say whether any of these points matter for pool finishes, and neither does this article. They are useful facts to share when your contractor asks about your fill water.
Orlando heat and a new finish
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for Orlando International Airport count 109.9 days a year at or above 90 °F, and 69.8 of them fall in June through August. July has the most, 25.4 days, with a normal high of 92.0 °F. Normal summer lows stay in the low 70s, so pool water stays warm for much of the year.
The same normals put June through September at 29.57 inches of rain, about 57 percent of the 51.45-inch annual total, with June the wettest month at 8.05 inches. November is the driest at 1.79 inches. For a resurface, that matters twice: the pool has to be drained and the finish applied on workable days, and draining is usually planned away from the heaviest rain. Our guide to draining a pool in Central Florida covers that side.
Waterline scale: the question to raise early
The concern most people have with hard fill water is calcium scale: whitish, crusty deposits that can build up along waterline tile. It is the reason many owners ask about hard water at all, and the reason waterline tile choice and cleaning come up in tile and coping replacement projects.
What this article does not include: research for this site found no plaster-industry source for start-up chemistry, so there are no target numbers here for calcium, alkalinity, pH or any other reading. Those numbers should come from your contractor and the finish maker’s instructions, in writing.
That is not a gap you need to fill yourself. The contractor who applies the finish knows the product and is the right person to set the start-up plan for it.
Ask for a written start-up plan
A start-up plan is simply a written description of what happens from the moment the pool is refilled until it is handed back for normal use. When you compare quotes, ask each contractor whether one is included and what it covers:
- Who performs start-up, and for how many days or visits.
- Who brushes the new surface, how often, and for how long.
- Which readings are tested, the target for each, and where those targets come from.
- Whether the fill water is tested before or during refill, and what happens if it is hard.
- When it is safe to swim, add salt, turn on a heater or use automatic cleaners.
- How waterline tile should be cleaned in the first months.
- What the finish maker’s warranty, if any, requires of the owner, in the contractor’s own words.
Getting this in writing makes quotes easier to compare and makes clear who is responsible for each step. If a pool service company will take over afterward, share the plan with it too.
Finish choice and hard water
Homeowners often weigh white plaster against quartz and pebble finishes, and hard water is one of the questions that comes up. This article makes no claim about which finish handles Orlando water better, because research did not find a source that compares them on that point. What the cost guides do show is the price spread:
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| White plaster / marcite | $6–$8 per sq ft (about $6,000–$8,000 per 1,000 sq ft) |
| Quartz finish | $7–$10 per sq ft (about $7,000–$10,000) |
| Pebble aggregate finish | $7–$15 per sq ft (about $7,000–$15,000); premium brand-name pebble $10–$20 per sq ft |
| Refill water (City of Orlando, OUC) | A 20,000-gallon refill adds roughly $47–$84 in OUC water volume charges depending on the rest of that month’s use, before sewer charges (OUC rate schedule effective Oct 1, 2026) |
For more on the finishes themselves, see pebble and quartz pool finishes, pool resurfacing and replastering and our pebble vs quartz vs plaster comparison.
Who handles the work
In Florida, resurfacing is pool contracting. All three state pool/spa license classes list “interior finishes” or “interior refinishing” in their scope (Fla. Stat. §489.105(3)(j)–(l)). Ask for the contractor’s state license number (it must appear in their ads and contracts, §489.119(5)(b)) and check it on MyFloridaLicense.com. A county business tax receipt is not a license.
When you are ready, request free quotes and mention your water utility, the current finish and whether you see scale at the waterline. That helps contractors plan their start-up recommendations before the first visit.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is OUC water in Orlando?
Orlando Utilities Commission reports that the average hardness of OUC water is 129 ppm, or about 7 grains per gallon. The figure appears on an undated OUC web page. On a Water Quality Association scale summarized from a state filing, that sits at the line between moderately hard and hard. Other local utilities checked publish no hardness figure.
Does OUC use chloramines?
No. OUC answers “No” when asked whether it uses chloramines, and says chlorine is added at an average concentration of 1.0 ppm. OUC also says it stopped adding fluoride on July 1, 2025. OUC does not say how any of this affects pool finishes, so share these facts with your contractor when you discuss start-up.
What should I do after my pool is resurfaced?
Follow the written start-up plan from the contractor who applied the finish. Ask for one before you sign: who does start-up, how long brushing lasts, which readings are tested and their targets, and when you can swim or add salt. Research for this site found no plaster-industry source for start-up numbers, so this site gives none.