I know usually people post asking for help on this stuff but I never got around to it because I have been reading posts on TFP for the past 3 years pretty regularly and I had a good idea of what to do. So here's my story with pictures for others that may have a leak and search the forums or the internet looking for answers.
Short version: pool was leaking, found busted union on heater. Fixed it and still leaked. Did all the troubleshooting I could, narrowed it down to light or return. Called leak locating company and they found it and fixed it. Scroll down for pictures of crazy PVC failure.
I am in NC and our winters aren't really bad. We normally have just a few nights with really really cold weather so I never close my pool. I rely on my freeze protection and I also wrap my equipment up in insulation and tarps and a flood light left on under the tarp to keep temps up during the cold months. This winter I started noticing our pool level dropping. This is my 4th winter with the pool and I have never had to add water in the winter due to rain. It was a wet winter so I wasn't filling up the pool regularly but I did have to add a few inches to the pool once a month or so which was odd. Well, around the first of March we were adding water weekly which I knew was not good. I finally decided to investigate. I unwrapped my pool equipment pad and check the pump first. No air in the lid, so no suction side leak. So I start checking all the equipment after the pump. When I get to my electric heat pumpI find a broken union on on the inlet side of it. When I put pressure on it water just spewed out. I thought, Great! easy fix.
I jumped on TFP to see if anyone had posted a source for theses Jandy unions only to find out they are proprietary and specific to Jandy. So I called the local pool store which didn't have any in stock so we ordered one. 1 week later it was fixed and no more leak..... or so I thought.
At this point it was the kids spring break and they had 3 weeks off (year round school). So I raised the pool to slam level, raised the water level to the coping and asked the neighbor to check on it in a few days and we headed to Disney World for a week with friends. I checked my security cameras after 2 days and the water level had dropped to the bottom of the 6 inch tile. So 6 inches of water lost in 2 days. Leak not fixed.... So I changed the pump schedule to only run 6 hours a day thinking since its a pressure side leak maybe it wouldn't leak as much if the pump was off. Previously the pump ran 24hrs/day. This did slow the leak down and the neighbor was able to keep liquid chlorine in the pool and keep it topped off for me until we got home.
So no I am hoping and I start investigating again. This time I turned everything off, raised the chlorine to slam level and let it sit to see how low the water would get. I kept a check on the chlorine levels in the pool during this time and kept it topped off and mixed by brushing and running the pool robot. I didn't want my perfectly clear TFP water to go bad while the pump was off for an extended period of time. After a week the water finally stopped dropping. It settled around the return and pool light on my sun deck/splash pad.
I had that light replaced in November under warranty so I'm thinking, Found It! they must have cracked the housing behind it when relacing the light. Also notice that pollen season is in full swing by this point and with the pump off and skimmers not skimming.... well it was not pretty. However chlorine was kept near slam level and the water underneath was still clear. Next I filled the pool back up after figuring out where I thought the leak was so the skimmers could clear the pollen and I could make sure my water was still good. I attempted to do a dye test around the light and that return but they dye just sat there and was never sucked in. After wasting all my wife's food coloring and getting frustrated, my wife convinced me to call a leak detection company. I admit defeat and give them a call. Turns out the owners kids go to the same school as mine so it was at least a friendly phone call.
So in comes Leak Locators Services out of Clayton, NC. I highly recommend them by the way for all my fellow NC people. Young kid shows up and proceeds to cap off all the returns and applies some air pressure to the return lines. The returns do not hold the air pressure so he says a leak is present. I tell him my whole story for the past few months and said I'm convinced a light is leaking. He then proceeds to show air pressure falling and this time when he pumps it up, instead of a slow leak, the pressure just drops. We both look at each other and we knew, something just bust. So we now know I have a leak in the returns. But he also put on his scuba suit and still check every light, return, and drain in the pool with dye to make sure nothing was leaking where it penetrated the pool shell. All that check out fine. Next he gets this plunger looking thing with headphones connected to it so he can pinpoint the leaking return. He finds it about 4 ft away from the pool under my concrete deck. He calls the office and gets a quote to repair it and I tell them go ahead.
Y'all still reading my blog? Almost done, I promise!
So leak locaters returns a week later with their repair crew and they cut a 2x3 hole in the concrete and start digging. About 2 ft down through thick clay, they find the broken pipe. And broken it was.
I have never seen PVC fail this way. We are thinking a tooth from an excavator or skid steer hit it during backfill and created the weak point and initial slow leak. After that his pressure test the week before blew it outward and we have what we see hear. Anyways they repair the leak with a few more 90 degree elbows than I would have liked but at this point I just wanted it finished so I didn't complain. They backfill the hole with sand I had on hand and mix on some concrete to patch the whole they cut. They pressure test again and no leaks!.
Now its been 3 days since the leak was fixed and the water has not dropped at all and thanks to the knowledge gained from TFP over the years, my water remains clean and clear. If you are still reading this, thank you for joining me and reading my blog. And thank you to al the TFP experts who answer the same questions over and over and over and over again for people posting for the first time panicking about their water or leaks or whatever. There's not telling how much money you have collectively saved the people over the years.
Final picture of TFP clear pool. Yes the pool is full of water and CYA is in that bag hanging in front of the return.
Short version: pool was leaking, found busted union on heater. Fixed it and still leaked. Did all the troubleshooting I could, narrowed it down to light or return. Called leak locating company and they found it and fixed it. Scroll down for pictures of crazy PVC failure.
I am in NC and our winters aren't really bad. We normally have just a few nights with really really cold weather so I never close my pool. I rely on my freeze protection and I also wrap my equipment up in insulation and tarps and a flood light left on under the tarp to keep temps up during the cold months. This winter I started noticing our pool level dropping. This is my 4th winter with the pool and I have never had to add water in the winter due to rain. It was a wet winter so I wasn't filling up the pool regularly but I did have to add a few inches to the pool once a month or so which was odd. Well, around the first of March we were adding water weekly which I knew was not good. I finally decided to investigate. I unwrapped my pool equipment pad and check the pump first. No air in the lid, so no suction side leak. So I start checking all the equipment after the pump. When I get to my electric heat pumpI find a broken union on on the inlet side of it. When I put pressure on it water just spewed out. I thought, Great! easy fix.
I jumped on TFP to see if anyone had posted a source for theses Jandy unions only to find out they are proprietary and specific to Jandy. So I called the local pool store which didn't have any in stock so we ordered one. 1 week later it was fixed and no more leak..... or so I thought.
At this point it was the kids spring break and they had 3 weeks off (year round school). So I raised the pool to slam level, raised the water level to the coping and asked the neighbor to check on it in a few days and we headed to Disney World for a week with friends. I checked my security cameras after 2 days and the water level had dropped to the bottom of the 6 inch tile. So 6 inches of water lost in 2 days. Leak not fixed.... So I changed the pump schedule to only run 6 hours a day thinking since its a pressure side leak maybe it wouldn't leak as much if the pump was off. Previously the pump ran 24hrs/day. This did slow the leak down and the neighbor was able to keep liquid chlorine in the pool and keep it topped off for me until we got home.
So no I am hoping and I start investigating again. This time I turned everything off, raised the chlorine to slam level and let it sit to see how low the water would get. I kept a check on the chlorine levels in the pool during this time and kept it topped off and mixed by brushing and running the pool robot. I didn't want my perfectly clear TFP water to go bad while the pump was off for an extended period of time. After a week the water finally stopped dropping. It settled around the return and pool light on my sun deck/splash pad.
I had that light replaced in November under warranty so I'm thinking, Found It! they must have cracked the housing behind it when relacing the light. Also notice that pollen season is in full swing by this point and with the pump off and skimmers not skimming.... well it was not pretty. However chlorine was kept near slam level and the water underneath was still clear. Next I filled the pool back up after figuring out where I thought the leak was so the skimmers could clear the pollen and I could make sure my water was still good. I attempted to do a dye test around the light and that return but they dye just sat there and was never sucked in. After wasting all my wife's food coloring and getting frustrated, my wife convinced me to call a leak detection company. I admit defeat and give them a call. Turns out the owners kids go to the same school as mine so it was at least a friendly phone call.
So in comes Leak Locators Services out of Clayton, NC. I highly recommend them by the way for all my fellow NC people. Young kid shows up and proceeds to cap off all the returns and applies some air pressure to the return lines. The returns do not hold the air pressure so he says a leak is present. I tell him my whole story for the past few months and said I'm convinced a light is leaking. He then proceeds to show air pressure falling and this time when he pumps it up, instead of a slow leak, the pressure just drops. We both look at each other and we knew, something just bust. So we now know I have a leak in the returns. But he also put on his scuba suit and still check every light, return, and drain in the pool with dye to make sure nothing was leaking where it penetrated the pool shell. All that check out fine. Next he gets this plunger looking thing with headphones connected to it so he can pinpoint the leaking return. He finds it about 4 ft away from the pool under my concrete deck. He calls the office and gets a quote to repair it and I tell them go ahead.
Y'all still reading my blog? Almost done, I promise!
So leak locaters returns a week later with their repair crew and they cut a 2x3 hole in the concrete and start digging. About 2 ft down through thick clay, they find the broken pipe. And broken it was.
I have never seen PVC fail this way. We are thinking a tooth from an excavator or skid steer hit it during backfill and created the weak point and initial slow leak. After that his pressure test the week before blew it outward and we have what we see hear. Anyways they repair the leak with a few more 90 degree elbows than I would have liked but at this point I just wanted it finished so I didn't complain. They backfill the hole with sand I had on hand and mix on some concrete to patch the whole they cut. They pressure test again and no leaks!.
Now its been 3 days since the leak was fixed and the water has not dropped at all and thanks to the knowledge gained from TFP over the years, my water remains clean and clear. If you are still reading this, thank you for joining me and reading my blog. And thank you to al the TFP experts who answer the same questions over and over and over and over again for people posting for the first time panicking about their water or leaks or whatever. There's not telling how much money you have collectively saved the people over the years.
Final picture of TFP clear pool. Yes the pool is full of water and CYA is in that bag hanging in front of the return.
