Water Loss

[Jcsmith9]

Hey guys just had a brand new liner installed with a new hydrostatic relief valve also replaced in the main drain at the bottom of the pool. This is an inground vinyl liner pool. Filled the pool yesterday half way up the skimmer and woke up this morning and the water level has dropped more than 3 inches. Anybody have any ideas as to what could be going on? Oh also to mention I had an entire skim coat of the bottom floor of vermiculite .

 

[Jcsmith9]

the pollen line is where the water was as of last night.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You can leave the water in there and see where it stops. If it’s new liner then get the company that did the work to come back and fix the issue. Hopefully not a tear anywhere in the new liner. My guess would be something wasn’t sealed properly - skimmer, returns or bottom drain. Where the water settles will tell you where the leak is.

 

[Jcsmith9]

Also would anyone know where this water is going? Reason I ask is because I just had the entire floor skim coated to make smooth.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Vermiculite is not waterproof; in fact, it is intended to allow ground water to flow through it as needed. So any water loss is simply being absorbed into the surrounding earth around the pool.

 

[Jcsmith9]

Gotcha so that won’t mess up the skim coat job that was just performed right?

 

[Jcsmith9]

You can leave the water in there and see where it stops. If it’s new liner then get the company that did the work to come back and fix the issue. Hopefully not a tear anywhere in the new liner. My guess would be something wasn’t sealed properly - skimmer, returns or bottom drain. Where the water settles will tell you where the leak is.

That’s what I will do then. Thank you so much for the feedback.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Gotcha so that won’t mess up the skim coat job that was just performed right?

The skim coat should be ok as long as you find and fix the leak. The longer it's left to leak, the more damage the leaking water can do.

 

[Jcsmith9]

Got it. I’m looking out there now and it looks like the water is just below the white skimmer plate. I will keep checking to see if it’s leaking but as of now I don’t see it dropping further. Wonder what this means?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Got it. I’m looking out there now and it looks like the water is just below the white skimmer plate. I will keep checking to see if it’s leaking but as of now I don’t see it dropping further. Wonder what this means?

There are gremlins hiding in the bottom of the pool and they wait for you to not be looking and then spit water out of the pool .... OR .... the skimmer is leaking.

I dunno, I'm kinda partial to the gremlin theory ...

 

[Jcsmith9]

haha! What would it mean if the skimmer was leaking? Is that an easy fix?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

haha! What would it mean if the skimmer was leaking? Is that an easy fix?

It's likely the face plate or the rubber gasket behind it wasn't sealed up properly when they installed the liner. I'd ask the pool company that did the work to come back and check the installation. It shouldn't be hard to fix ...

 

[Jcsmith9]

Now the water has dropped a little further from the skimmer face plate. Man this has me really worried.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Normal evaporative loss will be anywhere from 1/4”-1/2” per day.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You could tape a clear ruler to the side and mark the water level with tape.

 

[Jcsmith9]

earlier I looked at the skimmer faceplate and noticed a screw at the top of the page not being screwed in all the way. Makes me wonder if everything all the way around is secure?

 

[Jcsmith9]

**top of the plate**

 

[Jcsmith9]

So if the skimmer plate is not screwed in all the way water can leak right?

 

[Jcsmith9]

Here is a pic of the screw at the top.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I don’t think one screw would be a big deal but if they are all loose then that’s not good. Unfortunately I’m not a vinyl liner pool owner, so not exactly familiar with the limits of a vinyl skimmer.

Perhaps @Leebo or at @Casey might have a better idea.