Augusta glass carries pine pollen over oak through March and April, and sweetgum and hardwood drop in the older districts adds its own debris.
Augusta blends Savannah River water with local wells and publishes no hardness figure, so treat the tap as unknown and dry glass promptly. Pine pollen over oak coats glass in early spring and sweetgum litters the older districts; April, May, September and October are the months to wash. Masters week books out months ahead at rates unlike the rest of the year; otherwise a single-story exterior runs $260 to $440.
Augusta sits on the fall line and draws from both sides of it — Savannah River water off the soft Piedmont upstream, plus local wells that are not soft. That makes the delivered figure an operating ratio rather than a property of the ground under the city, and the recorded number looks like a midpoint between the two halves of the state rather than a measurement of either.
Figures by plant, as reported.
| Hardness | not published Augusta Utilities Department publishes no hardness figure in its 2024 Drinking Water Quality Report, per-plant results table and lab-tests section. |
|---|---|
| pH | 6.8–7.3 |
| Manganese | 0.0048 mg/L (range 0–0.0383) |
| Sodium | 4.2–11 mg/L |
| Disinfectant | free chlorine |
| Source and treatment | Surface water, per the EPA SDWIS federal record · Pre pH adjustment, coagulation, rapid mix, flocculation, sedimentation and rapid sand filtration, pre and post chlorination, with post pH adjustment for corrosion control · No softening step. |
Not in the report: alkalinity, corrosion index, iron, chloride and total dissolved solids.
SOURCE · Augusta Utilities Department 2024 Drinking Water Quality Report, per-plant results table and lab-tests section · How we source these numbers
One week in April reorganises the whole year. Masters Tournament week concentrates hospitality and corporate-rental demand into a window booked months ahead, and everything else in the calendar arranges itself around it. Environmentally the pine wave overlays oak in March and April, so the pollen season and the tournament collide — which is precisely why the preparation work has to be timed rather than merely booked.
GEORGIA SEASON BY SEASON →Augusta sits on the fall line and blends Savannah River water off the soft Piedmont with local wells that are not soft, so its hardness is an operating ratio rather than a geological fact: the mix reaching a given address can shift with how the river and well supplies are run, and the utility publishes no figure for it. Commercially the year is lopsided: Masters week books out months ahead at rates unrelated to the rest of the calendar, and it collides with the heaviest pollen of the year, making timing rather than technique the skill that gets paid for.
Augusta Utilities blends Savannah River surface water with local wells, and the department's water quality report prints no hardness figure. The city sits exactly on the fall line, so it draws from both sides of Georgia's water split — soft Piedmont river water and groundwater that is not soft.
That makes hardness here an operating ratio rather than a geological fact. The recorded figure sits neatly between the Piedmont cities upstate and Savannah on the coast, which is the signature of a midpoint rather than a measurement.
Masters Tournament week in April is the most concentrated commercial event in this market and probably in the state. Hospitality and corporate-rental glass is booked months ahead, capacity sells out, and rates in that window bear no relation to the rest of the year.
The tournament collides with the worst of the pollen season. Pine overlays oak through March and April, so preparation work has to be timed to finish late enough to still look right on the day — booking early is actively worse than booking correctly.
Respiratory protection is standard practice during the pollen window rather than optional. The combined pine and oak load is heavy enough to be a working-conditions issue, not just a glass one, and crews working through it plan for it.
Outside tournament week the market reverts to modest secondary-city economics, so the annual shape here is unusually lopsided — one week carries a disproportionate share of the year's revenue and the rest is steady, ordinary work.
Masters week is the most concentrated pricing event on this site. Hospitality and corporate-rental capacity is fully booked months ahead, rates in that window bear no relation to the rest of the year, and holding capacity for it is worth more than any amount of ordinary volume. Outside it the market reverts to a modest secondary-city rate.
Ordinary residential work is approachable and the water, whatever it reads, is not the obstacle. The skill here is scheduling under a deadline that does not move: tournament-week preparation has to be finished and still presentable on a specific day, in the middle of the heaviest pollen of the year. That is a planning problem rather than a technique one, and it is what the premium is paid for.
OPEN COST ESTIMATOR →2025 annual mean at the Augusta monitor, Bungalow Road Elementary School, 2216 Bungalow RD, Augusta GA 30906, 9 km north-east of the city (EPA site 13-245-0091).
Largest air release: PCS Nitrogen Fertilizer LP, 1460 Columbia Nitrogen DR (chemicals), inside the city limits, 4,024,912 lb in 2024.
Augusta customers may water lawns and landscaping outdoors only between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., with listed exemptions. A customer who lets water run to waste can be fined and, if the waste continues, have service shut off on 24 hours' notice.
Augusta-Richmond County Code §5-2-83: outdoor water usage · Augusta-Richmond County Code §5-2-28: permitting waste of water · checked September 2026
It is unlawful to throw, drain, run or otherwise discharge any matter into Augusta's municipal separate storm water system, or let it seep in, other than the storm or surface runoff the ordinance authorizes. Wash water from a cleaning job is not authorized runoff.
Augusta-Richmond County Code §5-1-8: prohibition · checked September 2026
Work on a historic property, or on a building in one of Augusta's historic districts, that needs a Certificate of Appropriateness must follow the certificate. The Historic Preservation Commission has 45 days from filing to approve or reject an application.
Augusta-Richmond County Code §7-4-25: deadline for approval or rejection of an application · Augusta-Richmond County Code §7-4-28: requirement of conformance with certificate · checked September 2026
Yellow film coats south- and west-facing windows across the metro. Functionally a thin organic coating, not a deposit — handle wet, never scrape dry. A single normal wash plus a strip-and-go rinse handles it on most stock. Heavy applications may need two passes.
Heavier where the canopy is older — Druid Hills, Inman Park, Athens, Decatur. Streakier than pine pollen, more likely to dry-bond if left through a hot afternoon.
Lower-sash problem on any house with exposed red clay within ten feet of the foundation. Sets within a week if not addressed. Acid-soluble — vinegar 1:1 with water handles fresh stains, citric or oxalic for set stains.
Augusta sits on the fall line and draws from both sides of it — Savannah River water off the soft Piedmont upstream, plus local wells that are not soft. That makes the delivered figure an operating ratio rather than a property of the ground under the city, and the recorded number looks like a midpoint between the two halves of the state rather than a measurement of either.
Residential window cleaning in Augusta typically runs $8–13 per pane or $260–440 for a standard single-story exterior. Masters week is the most concentrated pricing event on this site.
Augusta's drier, frost-free months are April and May and September and October, by NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for the Augusta Bush Field Airport station, where August brings the most rain. The calendar on this page marks April (after the March 8 bloom), September (after smoke season) and October (before frost). Frost nights usually run from November 9 to March 23.
Augusta Utilities Department publishes neither hardness nor dissolved solids, so rinse one pane and let it dry in sun; a white ring means switch to pure water. Iron, manganese, sodium and chloride all sit under this site's flags (highest: sodium up to 11 mg/L). Treatment starts with pre pH adjustment, coagulation, rapid mix and flocculation.
In Augusta the dominant residue patterns include pine pollen overlaying oak through march and april and sweetgum and hardwood drop in the older districts. One week in April reorganises the whole year. Masters Tournament week concentrates hospitality and corporate-rental demand into a window booked months ahead, and everything else in the calendar arranges itself around it.
Ordinary residential work is approachable and the water, whatever it reads, is not the obstacle. The skill here is scheduling under a deadline that does not move: tournament-week preparation has to be finished and still presentable on a specific day, in the middle of the heaviest pollen of the year.
Pre-1920 commercial core; revitalized riverfront with substantial fixed glazing. Olde Town and Summerville have their own housing stock and glazing as well.
Just over the Georgia line