Drought stage refill ban

Definition

The stage at which the water utility stops a pool being drained and refilled.

Why It Matters

The same staged drought plan that governs the landscaper next door has a clause of its own for pools. At stage three an existing pool may not be drained and refilled except to replace normal loss, and at stage four new pool permits stop as well. Weekly service is untouched, so what a declared stage takes is the acid wash, the drain-and-refill and the new build, which is the higher-margin end of the route. Ask for the split between recurring service and water-dependent work, and ask the utility how many stages it has declared since the last drought. One ordinance governs two trades here, which is worth knowing when a route and a landscaping book share a service area.