Leaking around return jets or vacuum intake? Vinyl liner inground pool

[minmex]

My pool has been leaking (I thought it was evaporation) at a rate of about 5/8 inch per day. Our city put in water restrictions so no more pool filling. Other people I know did not have such a drop off, so I figured I must be leaking, not just evaporating.

So I had to just let it go..I measured every day the dropping level of the water from the deck level and found it to be about 5/8 inch per day until today, when it was just 1/8 lower...aha.

It has not rained, so it seems that this is the approximate level of the leakage, which happens to also be where the level where both the return jets are, and also the vacuum inlet. The pool is a vinyl liner in ground type.

I would guess there is some sort of gasket to seal the outlets/inlets from the liner? I can easily reach them from the deck of the pool, so I hope it is just a case of remove and replace, and then buy some water and be back in business.

My other thought is that there is leak somewhere within the piping at this level.

Any advice on what to look for, and would the pool store carry such a gasket or seal or whatever part it is?

Thanks TFP!

 

[Melt In The Sun]

This may be difficult if you can't put any water in the pool. The best thing would be to try the dye test (lots of videos on youtube) and see if you can tell which one is leaking. then we can go from there...could be a gasket, or a leak in the line.

 

[minmex]

Update -

I replaced all the gaskets on the two outlets and one inlet, as well as around the skimmer intake. They were not in the greatest of shape, and the plastic rings for the inlets/outlets were all somewhat cracked so I replaced them as well.

I got some water and filled the pool a couple inches over the tops of the in/outlets and now I will wait and see....

I figure if it still leaks it is one of the following:
1. A tear in the liner itself at the same level as the outlets
2. Plumbing leak within the inlet or outlet in the ground at the same level
3. Leak in the main (bottom) drain piping in the ground but at the same level as the in/outlet.

One thing I know for sure...the pool is going to require an extreme SLAM once I can make it stop leaking...yuck!


4. Leak around the stairs at the level of the in/outlet

 

[minmex]

Well...it wasn't the gaskets that were leaking, as the pool is dropping at the same rate as before...

It is dropping about 5/8" per day, with a bubble cover on top of the water, so the water is going somewhere besides evaporation.

I am thinking the next step is to buy a few rubber plugs with the wing nut on them and plug the outlets and vacuum inlet, then see if the leaking continues.

Last time the leaking rate dropped drastically after it reached the level of the inlets/outlets, so I think it must be one or more of them as the most likely culprit.

Got to get this fixed before it freezes around here :O

One other question - does it hurt the vinyl liner to have the water at a low level? Will it stretch or tear or something like that and be damaged?

Is there anything else I should look at?

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Another quick thought; could it be leaking out the waste line from your multiport/push-pull backwash valve?

 

[minmex]

Another quick thought; could it be leaking out the waste line from your multiport/push-pull backwash valve?

A good thought, but at this point, the pump is not running because the pool is down by 1 foot and water restrictions prohibit filling unless it is from a well or otherwise not from the municipal system.

A hint of good news!

I bought three PVC threaded caps and threaded them into the two returns and one vacuum inlet and so far, no more dropping of water level, so if this continues, at least I will be able to figure out which is the culprit.

Since the two returns are connected somewhere underground, I am hoping it is not one of them. If it is the vacuum line, I believe I can just leave it capped and plug the vacuum into the skimmer. I will lose a bit of function, but wouldn't have to dig things up just yet.