What To Do If You Think Your Pool Is Leaking?
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Published 2023-06-16
Place an open vessel like a plastic bucket on a ledge, step or stair in your pool so the top of the bucket is above the water line. Add a few rocks to the bucket so it does not float around. Now add pool water to the bucket until both the pool and the bucket have the exact same water level. Over 24 hours run your pump continuously and record water level in the pool after 24 hours. If pool and bucket are the same water level there is no leak in the pool. You are losing water to evaporation only. Consider using a solar blanket cover on the pool at night.
If you do note the water level in the pool is lower than the bucket after 24 hours, measure how much lower. 1/4", 1/2" for example. Now refill pool back to the original fill point you did the bucket test with last time. Now, this time turn the filtration equipment off for 24 hours. Note whether the pool still lost water. If the rate of water loss is different with the pump off, the leak relates to the plumbing system somewhere. If the leak loses the same amount whether the pump is running or now, then likely this is a structure leak unrelated to the plumbing system.
#waterloss #poolleak #swimmingpoolsteve #leakdetection
All Comments (5)
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I was trying to find out if I had a leak and voila Steve uploads the exact video the same day I needed it. Lucky me! Thanks Steve.
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Thank you Steve for sharing your experience and insight. Always interesting. New gunite 21,000 gallon pool August 2021. Multiple piping leaks at pump pad and suspected underground under very expensive stamped colored concrete. Builder refused to even review onsite until we paid for "extras > $10,000" he claims were required beyond contract. I refused as never properly identified. Builder never mentioned extras during construction, no change notice, just a bill at the end. Piping joint connections were not following product manufacturers requirements. These deficiencies were identified real time but builder would not answer phone or return calls. Piping inspection never performed by building inspectors as per permit as I found out later. Piping joints were not primed, pipe end not tapered, and not held together. Many glue joints on pump pad had pushed back and leaked. One leaker was cut apart to find the square edge pipe had pushed the cement away from the joint. I'm sure many more are similar underground. Anyway, piping leaks. With everything shut off and valves closed, we determined piping to waterfalls were the main culprits, but may be more. Unfortunately, waterfalls, shears, cannot be accessed except by jackhammer for a repair attempt. So, $10,000+ waterfalls unusable and valved off. We are clearly displeased with many aspects of project. 40+ year family pool builder in south east Pennsylvania. Looking for leaks, Try to isolate every pipe by closing valves to determine if a piping leak underground. I have read about methods to pump sealant into the piping to stop piping leaks. But, both ends of the pipe must be accessible.
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Happened to me once...a cinder block fell into it from a strong gust of wind. It only emptied to just before the gash in the liner. Replaced liner and now have safety cover, not boards holding a cover down with cinder blocks.
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My 25 year old plaster pool had a leak for 10 years that 4 different “leak experts” couldn’t locate or fix. Some claimed there was no leak and others wanted to dig up the entire deck. I had no choice but to add a few inches of water couple of times per week. Obviously this made the pool chemical balance a major challenge with all the fresh water. Water bill was stupid high as well. When it was time to get the surface refreshed the pool design guy said “it’s the skimmer box — the leak is ALWAYS in the skimmer box”. He hadn’t even inspected the pool yet but he was right. In an established pool it’s pretty unlikely that your pipes will suddenly start to leak. But the deck settles over time and the skimmer box joints are the weak link because it’s plastic and grout and cement joined below the waterline. So if the leak guy can’t find it do yourself a favor and call an installation guy — they know A LOT MORE about renovating older pools.
