Found my leak but not sure how to fix....

[DieselD]

Been noticing a wet area near the pool for a while. I've suspected a leak so I have been trying to isolate it over the past few days which didn't produce much so decided to start digging. This is what I found....the plastic you see is the backside of the skimmer and it appears water is coming between the plastic and concrete. I do not see any cracks or imperfections inside the skimmer so not sure exactly where is originating from or how to fix it.

It is a slow leak and does not change with the pump on or off. I even did a 24hr bucket test to see if my water loss was evaporation or a result of the leak which ended up being all evaporation. This leak isnt enough to produce a notable water loss just simply a little bit of dampness in the ground

 

[DieselD]

I did find a questionable joint on the top side of the skimmer throat. I am crossing my fingers that is my leak as I can not find anything else visually wrong

 

[DieselD]

for anyone following along the above sealant fixes did not stop the leak. However I do think I finally caught it, apparently someone decided to place a screw in the side of the skimmer housing to act as a weir door stop?!? I did not spot it at first based on water level and its location. Once I did it was one of those "duh" moments followed buy a head scratching movement on why anyone would think that would be a good idea.

I have sealed it up for the time being and that looks like it was the ticket, my leak is drying up as we speak.

 

[gwegan]

Glad you found the leak.

When you fill in your excavation do it slow and careful pack the dirt in so you get some support for your concrete.

You may now add "pool tunneling" to your resume.

 

[DieselD]

I was planning to pack it the best I can, I dug all the way to the shell which you can see in the second picture. Water leaks can be a real pain to track down and I suspect this one has been leaking for a long while due to being such a small leak. I could have probably left it as is but I can be a little OCD about anything that is leaking and would not be able to deal with ignoring it! My back yard looks like Im searching for buried treasure tracking down drip irrigation leaks! Fix one and another one pops up! Its all getting ripped out and redone as soon as the weather cools off a bit.

Hopefully this is my only pool tunneling adventure for a long while