Do I need SA Water approval for my pool?

“SA Water approval” is two different things

When a South Australian builder or neighbour says you need SA Water approval for a pool, they may mean either of two things, and they are not interchangeable.

• The swimming pool permit. SA Water's own pool page, as archived in April 2023, said: “Before putting in a pool or spa, make sure you get a swimming pool permit from SA Water. This permit lets you fill the pool or spa.” It is about water use.
• The sewer connection for backwash. SA guidance says new pools should be permanently connected to the sewer at installation, with SA Water's approval. It is about wastewater.

The quotable version: in South Australia the SA Water pool permit lets you fill the pool; it does not approve where the backwash goes, and it does not replace council approval.

The council question is the third one, and it is the one that decides whether the pool can be built at all — see whether you need council approval for a pool. For what the whole Adelaide budget looks like, including the sewer connection, see how much a pool costs in Adelaide.

What the SA Water swimming pool permit asks for

SA Water's New swimming pools – Permit application request form (read this session from a Wayback Machine snapshot of 28 November 2025, because sawater.com.au returned a 403 challenge to both WebFetch and a browser user-agent) sets out the mechanics:

• Who applies: the SA Water account holder or tenant. A tenant needs the account holder's signed authorisation. The form also asks for the pool company's name, ABN and contact person.
• Timeframe: “Please allow 10 business days from lodgement of application for permit approval/assessment.” The estimated fill date becomes the permit start date.
• Fill window: concrete pools get 60 days to fill; fibreglass, permanent above-ground and temporary above-ground pools get 30 days.
• The cover condition: proof of purchase of a Smart Approved WaterMark cover, blanket or liquid blanket (or a certified Climate Care product) must be attached. A contract or retailer receipt is accepted; quotes are not. A liquid blanket needs at least 6 months' supply.
• Lodging: by email to SA Water customer care or by post.
• Fee: the form does not mention one. We could not confirm on the live site whether a fee applies, so treat that as unconfirmed.

The practical trap is the order of events. The permit clock starts on your nominated fill date, and SA Water asks for 10 business days' notice before it. Lodge while the shell is going in, not when the plumber is ready to fill. The form also says it is your responsibility that fencing and safety requirements are met before you fill. If you are budgeting the water itself, see what it costs to fill a pool with water.

Where pool backwash can go in South Australia

This part is set by environmental law, not by SA Water, and the position has been the same since at least the EPA's 2004 information sheet.

The Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015 makes it an offence (clause 10) to discharge a class 1 pollutant into any waters, or onto land where it is reasonably likely to enter waters. Schedule 2 lists pool backwash water and pool chemicals as class 1 pollutants. The SA EPA's legal obligations page says failure to comply “may result in a $300 fine, an Environment Protection Order or a prosecution”. The older council information sheets cite the 2003 policy and its Schedule 4 Part 1; the 2015 policy moved the list to Schedule 2, and the substance is the same.

What the SA EPA's current ‘Around the home’ page allows instead:

• Sewered areas: backwash from all swimming pools can be directed to a sewerage drainage point, “new pools are subject to the necessary approvals”.
• CWMS areas (community wastewater management schemes): the council operating the scheme must approve a permanent connection, and backwash must bypass the septic tank.
• Anywhere: backwash can water the garden or lawn, with salt-tolerant plants for a salt pool and run-off kept inside the property.

The City of Marion states it plainly for metropolitan Adelaide: “Swimming pool water and back wash water should be directed to sewer.” The quotable version: in South Australia, pool backwash goes to the sewer, the garden or a soakage trench, and never to the street. Western Australia takes the opposite position on the sewer — compare draining a pool to the sewer in WA.

The sewer connection approval: what we could not verify

The guidance that new pools should be connected to the sewer “with approval from SA Water” comes from SA EPA information sheet 181/04, as reissued by Yorke Peninsula Council with a 2017 update. It gives an older SA Water phone number; the general line printed on SA Water's current permit form is 1300 729 283.

We tried to read SA Water's own requirements for that connection — the form, the fee, who lodges it and how long it takes — and could not. The live sawater.com.au site blocked every route we tried this session, and the SA Water ‘Swimming pools’ trade waste guideline we could read (released 4 May 2026) covers commercial and public pools, spas, hydrotherapy pools and fountains, not a backyard pool. It sets a backwash discharge rate of 0.5 litres per second or less for those sites, and that figure should not be read across to a house.

So we are not publishing a fee or a timeframe for the domestic connection. What we can say:

• It is plumbing work, done by a licensed plumber, and it is normally inside the pool contract or a named subcontract. See whether pool pipework counts as plumbing work.
• Ask for it by name in the quote: “Does this price include the backwash connection to sewer, and who obtains any SA Water approval for it?” If the answer is a provisional sum, here is what that means.

When you are comparing Adelaide builders, you can get quotes and put that one question to each of them, or browse pool builders in Adelaide.

Common questions

Sources

• SA Water — New swimming pools permit application request (Wayback snapshot 28 Nov 2025)
• SA Water — Your pool (Wayback snapshot 5 Apr 2023)
• SA Water — Swimming pools trade waste guideline, released 4 May 2026 (commercial and public pools)
• SA EPA — Around the home: stormwater pollution prevention
• SA EPA — Your legal obligations (stormwater)
• Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015
• Yorke Peninsula Council — Swimming pool backwash / water disposal (incl. SA EPA sheet 181/04)
• City of Marion — Swimming pool water

General information only, current at 2026-09-24. Pool rules differ by state and by council, and penalty amounts are updated regularly. Confirm your own obligations with your council or a registered inspector before acting.