About evaporation

[jaydar]

Sorry if I'm not on the right board.
I've always wondered whether my water loss is due to evaporation or a small leak.My pool is L shaped 24'long x 9' wide and 18' x 9' on the short side.So my surface area is just about 300 square feet.I can lose .5" to 1" of water..on most hot sunny days,and maybe .25" to .5" a day in the off season.
I run my pump about 6 hours a day during the season and about 3 hours a day in the off season.

I'm in southwest florida.......the days have been 90s and 70% humidity.The pool is not caged or shaded by trees...it's open to the sun all day.

Should I just chalk this water loss up to evaporation...or should I be concerned about a leak?

 

[Bama Rambler]

You should do a bucket test. Take a 5 gallon bucket and fill it about 2/3rds full of water and carefully mark the water level. Then sit it on a step in the pool. Carefully mark the water level in the pool and let it sit for 24 hours. Measure the levels in the pool and the bucket. They should both go down by the same amount if the loss is from evaporation. If the pool loses more than the bucket, you have a leak.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

Sounds about right. If you have doubts, though, you can do a bucket test to know for sure. Set a bucket of water in the pool on the steps so that it sticks out of the water. mark the water level inside, and the pool water level on the outside. If they drop by the same amount, it's evaporation. If the pool drops more than the bucket, there's a leak. Well, assuming the bucket isn't leaking...

[edit] Oh, looks like Bama beat me to it. [/edit]