Broken pipe under slab! How to fix???

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Gooserider

Gooserider

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LifeTime Supporter
Feb 25, 2009
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North Billerica, MA, USA, etc.
I have a problem - self induced, sort of, but I finally finished building a replacement pool control box (which I'll post more about eslwhere) and was able to start opening the pool today...

Last fall, when closing down, I couldn't find the stopper for the line that went into the line that connects the booster pump to the Polaris pool robot... We put the cover on figuring to open it up when I'd gotten a replacement stopper - but by the time I did the water level in the pool had gotten above that line's opening, and the weather had turned nasty - so we didn't put the stopper in... I went through the winter hoping the pipe wouldn't freeze and being afraid that it would...

Today when we pulled the cover off, I found the water level was about a foot low, or about 1-2" above the opening in the wall for the line. Normally the pool is full to the brim when we open, especially given the heavy snow we had this past winter, and the extra rainy spring... So I am assuming that the pipe has broken somehere under ground, most likely under the slab.

It is about 10-15' from the wall fitting to the equipment area, and it does look like a straight run.... The existing pipe is 1.5" PVC, with a glued in adapter at the pool wall to allow connecting the Polaris hose fitting. The booster pump outlet is only 3/4" IIRC and the Polaris hose is also 1/2 or 3/4" so I could go smaller on the pipe size I think...

1. What is the most painless way to fix this?

I'm wondering about just trying to slide a smaller pipe down the existing one, with a reducing coupler at the pool wall... Doing some quick looking at specs, it appears that 3/4" pipe would fit, even if I have to use a coupler....

Quite aside from the hassles involved otherwise, it would be a MAJOR problem to try to get through the slab, as the pipe runs under the area that is occupied by the pool equipment...

2. Being stuck in a wheelchair, this is probably not something I can do myself, though I can describe what exists in detail... Are there any pool repair folks in my area (Billerica, MA, which is just south of Lowell) that other TFP folks have had good luck dealing with?

3. Right now the pool has a serious case of the green slime / stinking swamp syndrome from having been closed all winter... The water level is to low for the main pump to circulate, and filter, but I could stopper the Polaris outlet and isolate the line, then fill the pool enough to circulate with a bunch of chlorine to try and reduce the worst of it. Is this a good idea? How much of a pumpdown will then be needed to do the repair?

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
ex-Gooserider
 
I hate to say it, but it sounds like it may be time to hire a handyman and rent a small electric jack hammer, many tool rental places rent them for under $50 per day (one local hardware store is as low as $30), if they are self service try to pick one with a reasonably sharp chisel bit.
 
If it were me, I'd troubleshoot some more to confirm that's where the leak is before I broke up the concrete. Can you isolate that run (plug the end in the wall) and fill it with water and see if it disappears? It would suck to break up the concrete to find out that's not the problem.
 
I'd like to avoid the jackhammer if at all possible - As I mentioned, besides the obvious concrete problem, I'd have to rip out all the plumbing I just put in last spring because the suspect pipe runs under the equipment area.

Pressure testing the suspect pipe is a good idea, but I'd put money on it being the problem - the returns were further under water, and seemed to still be full of air from when I blew the lines out last fall... Same with the skimmer side. It seems unlikely that I'd have a leak elswhere that would give me the same water depth result...

Another option that MIGHT work as a variant on running a new smaller line through the existing one is that a friend says he has a bunch of 3/4" PEX tube, but I don't think I've ever heard / seen mention of using PEX on a pool... What worries me about it is that most PEX seems to use metal fittings and I don't know if those would hold up well to pool chemistry. I'm sure the tube itself would be fine, but connecting it to the PVC pipe would be a problem.

ex-Gooserider
 
Plug the line and abandon it, assuming it really is the problem. Get a robotic cleaner. That might be a cheaper and better solution than fixing the leak, whether by tearing up concrete or by putting in some kind of smaller line through the existing one.
 
Thought about that option, and it would possibly work - but we just bought a new booster pump for the Polaris last summer and rebuilt the drive on the robot itself, and I'd hate to waste that investment...

The other problem is that my understanding of the electric bots is that they don't like being in the pool ALL the time, even when not running. I seriously doubt that I'd be able to get one of the electric bots in and out of the water easily because of the general problems I have lifting. The Polaris lives in the pool all the time, except when I fish it out to empty the bag - which I can do by snagging the hose and pulling it out by the hose (not something I'd want to do with a power cord) So I think the Polaris better fits my needs and abilities...

ex-Gooserider
 
Don't feel alone!!! I have to replace my skimmer line this summer.

I bought a cheap Endoscope off ebay. You might do the same and see if you can run it down the pipe to see the damage.

I bought a Dolphin Advantage, It comes with a remote you can drive it to the shallow end, does a wonderful job cleaning the pool.
 
swimcmp said:
Abandon the line. Plumb a new one over the deck unless you have an auto cover.
Click to expand...

Not really possible, as my chair probably wouldn't be able to make if over the new line, and likely would damage it if I tried... I could run a new line, and try to put a ramp over it, but that would look really tacky and be a stumbling hazard for the able-bodied...

ex-Gooserider
 
UPDATE....

As suggested, by mmcgovern, I did a bit more trouble shooting, with good news and bad news results... :confused: I got a friend to come over that could get into the plumbing, and we isolated the line and pressure tested it with a cylinder leakdown tester - and found it had zero leakage that we could detect.

That is the good news, but it leaves me with the puzzle of why the pool was about a foot lower than full when I pulled the cover off... In the past, even with a mild winter, the pool was always refilled to 100% or close to it between rain and snowmelt on the cover. This past winter was a record setter for snowfall in New England - so I was expecting the pool to be full to over-flowing, but it wasn't...

However since the pipe showed no leakage, I filled it up the rest of the way, and started up the pumps - everything seems to be working OK, and the water level hasn't dropped noticeably in 24 hours or so, so I might be OK afterall...

Now to just get things swimmable.... I've made a big dent in the "Green Swamp" even in one day, but have a long way to go...

ex-Gooserider
 

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That's about where I'm at... Level seems to be holding OK, though it's hard to tell with all the backwashing I've needed to do (Normal start up drill - have to backwash 3+ times while getting the swamp fixed, then am OK to the end of the season...) Will probably do some more checking once things are swimable to make sure I don't have any slow leaks around the pipe fittings and such, but don't expect anything major...

Water is already looking a lot better, and I'm fixing to switch the pool bot from the leaf bags to the regular or silt bags as the big stuff is now off the bottom...
(Just wish we could put diapers on the trees so they don't keep dropping **** in the pool....)

ex-Gooserider
 
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