Leaking through Pebble Tec???

[andrealholliday]

Hi, this is my first post so please forgive me if I'mnot doing it right :-D

My problem: I'm losing lots of water from the spa and also some (not as much, but enough to be a problem) from the pool.

The spa dropped a foot when left off for the weekend (they plugged it so the water didn't flow to the pool). The pool lost 3/4 of an inch in that same two days.

My builder cannot find an obvious leak anywhere after all sorts of evaluating. Every fixture has been checked, and they got into the pool with diving equipment to scour the pebble tec for cracks. Nothing was found. He says he thinks the water is soaking through the Pebble Tec and that we may need to get the whole pool and spa resurfaced with Pebble Tec. Does that sound right? I'm sure that is ridiculously expensive.

The pool was built in 2006. We are the second owners. The original owner didn't register the pool with Pebble Tec (I found the original warranty paperwork and it wasn't mailed in) so I'm not sure there is a warranty.

The evaluating by the pool builder isn't completed yet. They have a few more things they want to do to eliminate the possibility of a leak in the underground plumbing (which is what I suspected the problem was) but it doesn't look like that is the problem (to the builder anyway). I guess my question is... is it possible the Pebble Tec would fail after only 7 years, on a well maintained pool, when no obvious cracks can be found???

Thanks!

Andrea

 

[duraleigh]

3/4 of an inch from your pool in two days or so is a little above normal but a good portion of that is easily attributed to evaporation.

If you can find no wet spots that would lead you to an easy and inexpensive fix, I would certainly consider just living with it. The cost of the fix may be a lot more than 20 years of refill water.

To confirm the amount of your leak, perform the bucket test. You can find out how up in Pool School.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

The best thing to do is call Pebble-Tec. They will know about the warranty.

Having said that. It's highly unlikely that water seeping through the plaster is the issue.

You need to run several bucket tests to determine where and when it's leaking. If you haven't already.
Run the first one in normal mode. I.E. with things running normally. You can set one in the pool and the spa so you can test both.
Then run one with the pump(s) stopped.
Then run one with the pump(s) running.
Then isolate the pool and spa and run each again.

Report as you're going through them and we'll gladly guide you.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I would suggest doing a bucket test in both the isolated pool and the spa to see if the water level is indeed dropping more that evaporation. If it is, then try to see if you are loosing more / the same / or less water with the pump running ... this would try to establish whether the leak was in the plumbing and not some pool structure.

These can be tricky to find and potentially expensive to fix, so the more you can do yourself to isolate/understand the leak the better.

 

[JamesW]

He says he thinks the water is soaking through the Pebble Tec and that we may need to get the whole pool and spa resurfaced with Pebble Tec. Does that sound right?

Properly installed and maintained plaster will not leak through the plaster. I doubt that it's the cause of the leak. The plaster would have to be in very bad condition due to bad installation and/or very bad pool chemistry. If the plaster really were that bad, it would be obvious. Pebbles would easily be coming loose in large amounts.

The pool was built in 2006. We are the second owners.

Is the builder that you're working with the builder who built the pool? If not, then it would be worthwhile getting their opinion/advice as well as an opinion/advice from Pebble-Tec.

There are many possible places for a leak. Some examples:

1) Anywhere the plaster makes contact with anything under water, such as skimmer mouth, light niche, main drain, return fittings, etc.
2) Light conduit.
3) Plumbing.

Was the spa heated at the time?

 

[Leak Specialist]

Anything is possible.

Get an independent Leak Detection performed before you spend big money on a replaster that may or may not fix the leak.

When selecting a Leak Detection professional always ask about their Technicians training and their guarantee.