**Update** Pressure test passing due to pipes running underneath home?

[penquinizer]

Hi all!

**Update**
The leak I had in my pool is still persisting.

We've had 2 different companies come out to check for the leak.
- 1st one found no structural leak and said the return pipes held pressure.
- 2nd one found no structural leak and said they found a small leak in the return pipes. However, when they came back out a few weeks later, the leak was gone and the pipes held pressure. They did find a small structural leak the third time they came out but the bucket test is still showing a return pipe leak.

My question here is that our pool is in a unique spot that required the piping to run underneath a portion of the home. (I do not know how deep the pipes are buried.) With the pipping in these areas, could it potentially affect the pressure test results as there is a whole home on top vs the usual lawn/backyard it's buried under?

**Previous**

While I wait for a new leak detection company to come out and check out where the leak is in my pool, I noticed something strange with the bucket test.

I left the pump off for about 24hrs and noticed barely any leakage from the marks (Green arrow). However, over the past 12-13hrs it seems to have significantly lost water (Blue arrow).

Has anyone ever encountered anything like this? I am also totally open to this potentially being human error, but the levels seem significant enough to not be considering the timeframe.

 

[Texas Splash]

However, over the past 12-13hrs it seems to have significantly lost water (Blue arrow).

Was that also with the pump still off?

 

[ajw22]

Any big differences in weather conditions and wind?

 

[penquinizer]

Was that also with the pump still off?

Yup with pump still off. Unless the freeze protection kicked in last night. Weather report said it was mid 40s in my area though.

 

[ajw22]

What was the water temp?

 

[penquinizer]

Any big differences in weather conditions and wind?

Attached the weather report. Thursday on left and today on right. Test for 24h was 9:30pm Wednesday to 9:30pm Thurs. Left pump off and went out this morning around 11:30am

 

[ajw22]

Warm pool water with cold night air temperature causes a lot of evaporation.

Evaporation of Pool Water - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ajw22]

Looks like temperature dipped down to 25F during blue line time.

 

[penquinizer]

Hi TFP!

The leak I had in my pool is still persisting.

We've had 2 different companies come out to check for the leak.
- 1st one found no structural leak and said return pipes held pressure.
- 2nd one found no structural leak and said they found a small leak in the return pipes. However, when they came back out a few weeks later, the leak was gone and the pipes held pressure. They did find a small structural leak the third time they came out but the bucket test is still showing a return pipe leak.

My question here is that our pool is in a unique spot that required the pipping to run underneath a portion of the home. (I do not know how deep the pipes are buried.) With the pipping in these areas, could it potentially affect the results of the pressure test as there is a whole home on top vs the usual lawn / backyard it's buried under?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Pen,

The house sitting on top of the pipes will not cause any issues when running a pressure test of the pool plumbing.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[penquinizer]

Thanks for the response, Jim! Any thoughts as to what could potentially cause a leak to 'disappear' in the return lines?

 

[duraleigh]

How much water do you lose in a 24 hour period? Can you do the bucket test and report back?

 

[penquinizer]

I am re-running the test currently but last I ran last week, it was close to 3/4" with pump on (overcast) in 24hr vs 1/5" pump off (Clearer and sunny day)

 

[duraleigh]

If you are losing more water with the pump running, that would imply a visible leak around your equipment.

1/5" can easily be accounted for through evaporation but 3/4" suggests a leak. Post your current result.

 

[penquinizer]

The equipment side looks dry which is why we thought it would be in the return pipes. But the pipes held pressure 2/3 times the tests were done.

 

[penquinizer]

Just concluded the 24hr test. Bucket lost about 3/10" and pool lost between 1/2" to 7/10" (Windy so water is fluctuating between those two measurements.

 

[reggiehammond]

Do you have an overflow? I can lose an inch of water on windy days pretty easily through evaporation and water splashing into overflow.

 

[penquinizer]

The wind picked up today so ill most likely redo the test. I do have a fountain but turned it off for this past 24hr test. With the fountain on, I was losing around 11/16" vs 1/5" in the bucket.

 

[duraleigh]

Depending, that loss is pretty close to normal for your area and time of year. I would disregard it for a couple of weeks and do the bucket test again. Your loss is minimal, if any.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I would find a stretch of consistent weather and isolate 1 variable at a time for 24/48 hours each and see if you can find the culprit.

For example do 24/48 hours of:
- Normal pump operations
- Pump off
- Next, shut off the main drain and use the skimmers only
- Then turn the drains on and the skimmers off
- Then plug a few returns

That should help you tell the outlier and likely the culprit.