massive air bubbles

[justawildchild]

Whenever my pool filter shuts off, I get massive air bubbles that return to the pool via the skimmer. The result is that everything that was skimmed gets blown back into pool. I have an issue where my pump has many bubbles in the pump skimmer basket, tiny bubbles return through jets, and you can hear lots of gurgling in the sand filter when the pump shuts down. I can even hear some gurgling noises deep down near the skimmer.

Do I have an air leak on the intake line. It is getting very frustrating because I can't even vacuum my pool without losing suction. We have so much rain lately and some good wind storms that I have the clearest dirty pool in the neighborhood. I can see all the dirt in the bottom of my pool so clearly.

Help, me. I'm about ready to call the dump trucks and fill the thing in.

Justawildchild

 

[JasonLion]

You need to find and fix the air leak. Air accumulates in the filter under pressure. When the filter turns off it blows the water back out the skimmer (and the return, but you don't notice that). Fix the air leak and bleed the air out of the filter and you won't have a problem any more.

 

[justawildchild]

What are the chances that my air leak is from a buried line?

 

[waste]

Please read the leak detection article from Pool School. It will help narrow down the possible source of the leak.

In the mean time, check the weir (the door or flap in the skimmer mouth) it should stop any debris from being able to enter the pool.

We will stick with you on this, maybe asking a few questions to get this problem identified and resolved! :-D

 

[justawildchild]

I just had a leak detection company come by the house today. They use sonar technology to detect leak locations. Cost me $300 to find out there is a leak at or very near the skimmer. Considering this is a concrete pool, they say that the connection where the leak is may be encased in concrete. They say the cost of repair is anywhere from $600 to $1500 depending on what they find.

My plan is to dig down and assess the situation before I commit to paying any more money. I fixed the last pipe leak on the jet 2 years ago when we moved into the house.

The pool is over 30 years old, so it is not surprising there is an issue.

Has anyone had experience with this type of repair? If the leak is encased in the concrete, they say they would have to chip away around the pipe to free up the area to repair. I am a pretty handy person when it comes to this stuff, so I want to make sure there is nothing major I could screw up if I decide to do any repairs myself.

Justawildchild

 

[tphaggerty]

I have a leak (temporarily fixed) in a return line right at the pool. Under a 10ft concrete deck. Fortunately, we were able to locate the leak fairly easily using a pressure test, the leak identified itself by making a very distinct bubbling noise.

Anyway, rented a concrete saw and chipper from HD (about 200 for the full day). I cut a square hole above the leak and was able to dig to the leak fairly easily. My deck was about 3" of concrete, then several inches of gravel, then dirt. Once the concrete was cut and chipped out, it was fairly easy to dig down to the leak. I have to replace the wall fitting, so have decided to wait until fall drain down to completely fix. My leak was from a poorly done threaded fitting.

I was prepared to cut a trench all the way across the concrete in order to run in a new line if I needed to - say if there wasn't enough room to cut/repair the existing line. You might want to consider doing the same. Good luck.

 

[justawildchild]

My situation is not that bad. The digging will be easy because I have an interlock patio around my pool. My problem will be that the skimmer has been encased in concrete. I will be able to dig down and expose the concrete encased piping but will have to try to chip away at the concrete when I get down there.

 

[PoolOwnerNumber9]

You may get lucky and not have to break through any concrete at all. The pipe may be exposed. If you do need to get through some concrete, you can use a concrete saw to cut the concrete before chipping it. Worst case, you may end up replacing the whole skimmer.

 

[justawildchild]

Hurray :-D

The plumbing leak is fixed. After the leak started getting worse (probably the pressure test made the leak worse) where I was actually starting to see a significant amount of water loss I decided to dig down to see what I could find. When I found the pipe, the leak was thankfully outside the concrete casing for the skimmer by about 3 inches. To prevent risk of making a story longer than it needs to be, I repaired the leaky pipe which I assume has been there since we moved to the house, for all of about $10 in parts. And that is being generous. I then rewarded myself by buying a pool cleaner. Even with that purchase I figure I'm still ahead over $300 from the lowest quote I got from the pool company.

Thanks for all your input everyone

 

[pauster]

You sure earned that pool cleaner and a cold one ! Congrats to a job well done !