Just discovered last night, while prepping the area around the sidewalk for pavers, that we have a leak. The ground was very "squishy" (for lack of better word) in one area. So, we started to dig and the ground was very wet. Our ground has a lot of clay in it, which makes it difficult for the water to drain. But, we went down about 26" and there was not visible laying water. We decided to see in the morning if there was water in the hold, we would have our answer. Sure enough, there is about 2"-3" of water in the hole at 6am this morning.

When we dug last night, our filter and pump was already off for the evening. The timer comes on at 3am and off at 8am and again in the pm. After some reading this morning, I read that if you see air in the top of the pump then it could be on the intake side??? Please help. I've already left a message at the pool company, but just feel like I will get every excuse why it isn't their problem. My husband is going to try and dig deeper and see if there is a visible anwer to the problem.

Any suggestions????

A. Walters

You're best bet before more digging is to run a bucket test to make sure it's the pool leaking.

Are you losing water in the pool or do you have an autofil that's maintaining it?

At this point, its practically impossible to tell if we are losing water. It's been almost 90 for a week and I have an 8 yr old son who is in it constantly. Add in to that, I have a slide which we have a hose connected to that is adding whatever is/might be escaping.

Talked to a guy who does pressure tests. Suggestion was to block off the return to our two stair jets and wait. Then block off the other two returns and wait. Then lastly block off the skimmer. He came come up on Thursday to look. It's got to be in the plumbing somewhere.

It sounds like you certainly do have a water leak, the best news is you likely know where it is within a couple of feet, this is much better than a mystery leak somewhere under concrete decking.

Ike

So, here's a thought and another question - if the water that is in the hole is pool water - it should have chlorine in it, right?? It shows nothing, no chlorine at all!! I emptied the water that was in the hole and waited. After a few hours there was a little bit of water in it, so I tested the water - nothing. No chlorine or stabilizer. I'm starting to think its just ground water.

Thoughts? I marked the water level in the pool yesterday evening to see if we are loosing water. Level is the same this morning. Before leaving for work, I blocked off the two returns we have inthe steps to see what happens during the day and I'll check everything again when I get home this afternoon.

Chlorine would be used up rapidly when the water mixed with the soil, but CYA wouldn't be. If there is no CYA, it probably isn't pool water.

Blocking of individual returns won't help find the source of a leak unless your returns are plumbed individually. Mine are all on the same pipe, so they will stay full of water unless you blow them out and plug them all.

The returns on my steps are on a seperate line and also has a value that we can open and close them. So, I have the valve closed and the returns blocks. I have my pump and filter turned off. I have marked the water level in the pool and a bucket with water in and that marked as well. I did that at 5pm last night. I will get home about 1, which will be 20 hours. If I have a leak, I should lose some water by then. The hole has 3-4" of water in it overnight, I also want to see how high the water will rise or is it going to level off there. At that level in the ground, it's nowhere near the same water level as the pool.

Tested water in the hole, again to be sure. There is no stabilizer showing and where I marked the water level 21 he's ago - there is no change in the pool water level. I have not run the pump and filter in over 24 hours.