Pool Acid Wash in Bertram, Texas
Leander Pool Resurfacing drains and acid washes pools in Bertram, Texas: the pool is emptied, the finish is washed with diluted acid to lift stains and efflorescence, and the run-off is neutralized before the refill, in the Burnet County town on State Highway 29.
Bertram sits where Farm roads 243 and 1174 meet State Highway 29, ten miles east of Burnet, and the Census Bureau estimated 2,142 residents on July 1, 2025. Its parks include the City swimming pool, Johnnie Mae Wheeler Park on East Vaughan Street, Panther Park on West Vaughan Street, the E.B. Goodwin Pavilion and the ball fields on East FM 243, and every Labor Day weekend since 1978 the City has hosted the Oatmeal Festival.
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Older pools and newer subdivisions
Bertram has an older housing stock. Of 874 housing units in the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey, 478, about 54.7%, were built before 1990, including 75 from 1939 or earlier, and the median home dates from 1983, give or take 14 years; 342 have gone up since 2000. About 83.1% are single-family detached houses and 107 are mobile homes, owners occupy about 76.0% of the occupied homes, and the median value of an owner-occupied home is $224,200. The margins on all of these are wide for a town this size.
New homes are going up on the south side of town. The City's 2023 comprehensive plan lists five developments under way, Dove Meadows, Flores Park, Lewis Unit 1, Grande Estates and Bertram Oaks, with 589 homes expected and 198 of them within two years of the plan. It calls Bertram an affordable community with lower-cost housing than many of its neighbors, and sees it as a home for people working in Leander, Cedar Park, Burnet and Marble Falls.
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(737) 212-9378What a pool acid wash does to a finish
The National Plasterers Council gives "acid wash" three meanings: dissolving a thin layer of a cement finish to clean off efflorescence, dirt or unwanted stains; etching a cement surface so the aggregate shows on a new exposed-aggregate finish; and a weak, diluted solution that takes off certain stains, dirt or marks while compromising little, if any, of the surface.
How well a finish stands up to it varies. SGM, which makes plaster, says that on old-style limestone-based plaster, acid washing gave only short-lived relief and wore the surface away faster, whereas its own quartz-based Diamond Brite holds up to several acid washes over its lifetime with no lasting harm. The maker of the finish in the pool has the last word. On how often to drain at all, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says a well-maintained pool should only need it every 3 to 7 years to keep dissolved solids down.
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(737) 212-9378City well water and the refill
Bertram supplies its own water. Under a long-term lease with the Felps family, the City draws groundwater from two wells producing 450 to 500 gallons a minute, with water rights through the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District, and its system had 1,116 connections at the time of the 2023 plan, so figures published for lake water elsewhere don't carry over. The City's 2025 water quality report gives its source as two wells in the Ellenburger–San Saba Aquifer on CR 340, an aquifer whose water the Texas Water Development Board describes as "inherently hard", but the report prints no hardness figure, so the fill water gets the National Plasterers Council's fill-day test for pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness and metals. The Council calls that test no longer an option: fill water short on pH, calcium hardness or alkalinity can etch a new finish, water with too much of them can scale it, and dissolved metals can leave stains.
Refill days under the drought plan
Bertram's drought contingency plan counts filling, refilling or topping up any pool as a nonessential water use. In Stage 2, a pool may be filled only on the customer's watering days, between midnight and 10:00 a.m. or between 8:00 p.m. and midnight: Sundays and Thursdays for street addresses ending in an even number, Saturdays and Wednesdays for odd. Stage 4 bans filling or adding water to pools altogether.
The stages follow the static water level in the City's Well 9, the Felps well, and the town's daily demand: Stage 1 starts when the level reaches 55 feet below the ground, Stage 2 at 65 feet and Stage 4 at 85 feet. The City's homepage links a Stage 1 notice, which asks customers to save water voluntarily and places no rule on pools, but it is undated and doesn't say whether it's in force, so the current stage is confirmed with the City before any draining.
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(737) 212-9378City permits and the 2024 pool code
Bertram's code says anyone planning to build, enlarge, alter or repair a building or structure, or to install, alter, repair or replace an electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system, applies to the City for a permit first. On October 28, 2025, the City made the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, appendix chapters included, its own pool code, to govern the construction, alteration, renovation, replacement, repair and maintenance of pools and spas, changing only its title and violation penalties; that code sets the top of a pool barrier at least 48 inches above grade.
The City's fee schedule, as amended November 18, 2025, charges $550 for an in-ground pool permit, covering plan review and inspection, and $715 for plan review of a remodel with mechanical, electrical or plumbing work, or $330 without. The City's own pool is a public pool, and the same schedule charges $220 a year for a public pool inspection. Applications and inspection requests go through the City's online portal, where the City's contractor reviews the plans and inspects, and the City issues the permit. Pools also count as impervious cover in the City's subdivision and zoning ordinances.
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(737) 212-9378Replastering, plaster repair and tile cleaning
When an acid wash isn't enough, we also replaster pools in white or colored plaster, repair hollow or flaking plaster, remove calcium scale from waterline tile and repair cracks in the shell.
Nearer Leander, Leander Pool Resurfacing builds travertine pool decks in Liberty Hill and handles pool tile calcium removal in Santa Rita Ranch.
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(737) 212-9378Cotton bales, floor tile and the Bertram Flyer
Bertram was established in 1882, when the community of San Gabriel in Williamson County moved two miles northwest to the newly built Austin and Northwestern Railroad, and it took its name from Austin merchant Rudolph Bertram, the railroad's largest stockholder. After 1900 it shipped cotton, cattle and wool, and in 1928 a record 11,624 bales of cotton were ginned in town. The Handbook of Texas counts 1,000 residents in 1929, 550 by 1931 after cotton prices fell in the Depression, 1,205 in 1966 and 1,353 in 2010, and the 2020 Census found 1,616. In 1989 the town's main industries included making ceramic floor tiles, paving tiles, marble fixtures and molded plastic products.
The local depot once sent the Bertram Flyer on scenic rides through the Hill Country. The railroad still runs alongside Highway 29 on the north side of town, which is why the City expects most new shops and businesses on the south side, near the historic downtown, and its 2023 plan counts more than 15,000 vehicles a day passing through. From Leander, Bertram's Census center point lies about 16.6 miles to the northwest in a straight line.
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(737) 212-9378How a drain and acid wash runs
General practice from SGM's acid-wash procedure, the EPA and the National Plasterers Council. Whoever made the finish in your pool gets the final say, and the estimate is written for that pool.
Check the stage and the permit question
Bertram's drought stage decides when the refill can happen, so confirm it, and check with the City whether the job needs a permit.
Let the water rest, then drain
Before draining, the EPA's advice is to leave the water alone for 48 to 72 hours with no chemicals added.
Wash from the deep end up
SGM's procedure: proper safety equipment throughout, the deep end done first while working up toward the shallow end so the floor doesn't streak, walls and steps saved for last, nothing left to pool in the bowl, and an acid-wash additive that reduces fumes.
Neutralize and pump out
A sump pump carries the run-off away continuously once it is diluted and neutralized, the wash is disposed of under local requirements, and soda ash and water neutralize any acid left on the finish so it doesn't discolor.
Check the fittings while it is empty
Custom Molded Products rates its Galaxy drain cover and screws for replacement every seven years, and calls for replacing any suction fitting that is missing, broken or cracked.
Refill on a watering day
In Stage 2 that means the address's two watering days, overnight or early morning, with the fill water tested for pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness and metals and the filtration started as soon as the pool is full.
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(737) 212-9378Bertram acid wash questions
Does a pool acid wash need a permit in Bertram?
The City's rules don't say either way. Its code requires a permit before anyone repairs a structure or works on plumbing or electrical systems, and the 2024 pool code it adopted covers the renovation, repair and maintenance of pools, but neither names acid washing or resurfacing. Check with the City of Bertram through its permit portal before the work starts, and never assume a permit isn't needed.
Where can acid wash water go in Bertram?
Bertram's code, as published, sets no rule on where drained pool water or backwash goes, so the City is asked before the pump goes in. SGM's procedure dilutes and neutralizes the run-off before a sump pump carries it away and disposes of it under local requirements, and the EPA advises checking local rules on pool water discharge before draining into a sanitary or storm sewer or onto your property.
Free pool acid wash estimates in Bertram
Leander Pool Resurfacing takes calls and estimate requests 24/7 for draining and acid washing pools in Bertram. Tell us the pool's size and finish, what the stains look like, and when it was last drained.