Hi - I've been a long time lurker to this forum and always appreciated the valuable information provided by its users.
First time that I need some specific advise from this community now, so I finally signed up for an account - maybe that's good start and engages me in giving some advice back in the future.
So, here's my problem: after reading up a LOT about leak detection I've pinpointed the issue to one of the dreadful underground leaks in my suction line coming from the skimmer. I've dug down to the first elbow and you guessed (Murphy's grinning back from the bottom of this hole), it's not even there, but must be on the next level of elbows.
Here are the stats and what I know:
My options now are:
My question is the following - what speaks against a sloped skimmer line following the topography around my pool?
My reasons for considering this are the following:
Here's an overview link to a photo on my google drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28KMKb-EMXFcV95WGlYMFRmWWM/view?usp=sharing
Here's where the skimmer line goes (blue) and the proposed new line (red dashed)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28KMKb-EMXFTGk4bnF4ekJ1OUE/view?usp=sharing
Before adding too many links here - what's the best/preferred way of providing pictures for more clarity in this forum?
Sorry for the lengthy and introduction and thanks for any pointers and advice.
First time that I need some specific advise from this community now, so I finally signed up for an account - maybe that's good start and engages me in giving some advice back in the future.
So, here's my problem: after reading up a LOT about leak detection I've pinpointed the issue to one of the dreadful underground leaks in my suction line coming from the skimmer. I've dug down to the first elbow and you guessed (Murphy's grinning back from the bottom of this hole), it's not even there, but must be on the next level of elbows.
Here are the stats and what I know:
- My pad is about 6ft above the water line
- The first elbow I dug up is about 3ft below the pad
- There's a horizontal stretch which must go to another elbow before a (wooden) retaining wall and drop further below where it dives under the concrete paver around the pool going to the skimmer
- The water level in the (leaking) pool stops at the skimmer line (so water loss is somewhere between the skimmer and tree-way valve at the pump)
- The water level IN the skimmer stays about 6" below the pool water line now, so the leak is somewhere in the line at this height - no leaks directly in the skimmer)
My options now are:
- Dig further down (I'd say it's close to 6 feet - maybe even more) and hope to find the leak where it drops next to the wooden retaining wall
- Or install a new line, which I would like to burry shallow (if at all) along the slope that I have on the side of the wooden retaining wall outside of the concrete pavement and then go under the concrete pad close to the skimmer.
My question is the following - what speaks against a sloped skimmer line following the topography around my pool?
My reasons for considering this are the following:
- I'd hope can be better drained for winterizing than the current setup (which I believe caused the crack)
- Avoid trenching 6 feet into the ground
- Avoid having to cut all the concrete paver around my pool, and limit this cutting to a short stretch.
Here's an overview link to a photo on my google drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28KMKb-EMXFcV95WGlYMFRmWWM/view?usp=sharing
Here's where the skimmer line goes (blue) and the proposed new line (red dashed)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28KMKb-EMXFTGk4bnF4ekJ1OUE/view?usp=sharing
Before adding too many links here - what's the best/preferred way of providing pictures for more clarity in this forum?
Sorry for the lengthy and introduction and thanks for any pointers and advice.