Suction side leak

[Dan Morrill]

Hey everyone. I've been keeping track of some significant, off and on water loss this season. Kept thinking maybe it was just a day or two of big evaporation and ignoring the feeling that something was wrong.

Anyways, little to no water is lost when pump is on. Water levels drop when pump is off. I've plugged jets and skimmer to confirm no water is being lost from the pool structure itself.

So I guess I have two questions;

1. To me this indicates I have a suction line leak. Am I right in thinking this?

2. What are the chances I am going to be able to DIY a repair here? I've heard many suction line leaks end up being at the bottom of the skimmer, but it's incased in cement correct? I won't be able to get at that area will I?

 

[Texas Splash]

You seem to be on the right track. A bad connection at the skimmer certainly is possible. Your decking material (concrete, pavers, etc) surrounds the skimmer then extends below a few inches to the base material. After that you have the sub-soil where the plumbing is located. That's where the ground shifting occurs resulting in a break. Scoring & cutting a starting point in the concrete is first, followed by carefully digging down a couple feet to the bottom of the skimmer area where the suction line connects. Of course you do have the option of calling a leak detection service to check that line before you dig, but at an expense.

 

[Dan Morrill]

You seem to be on the right track. A bad connection at the skimmer certainly is possible. Your decking material (concrete, pavers, etc) surrounds the skimmer then extends below a few inches to the base material. After that you have the sub-soil where the plumbing is located. That's where the ground shifting occurs resulting in a break. Scoring & cutting a starting point in the concrete is first, followed by carefully digging down a couple feet to the bottom of the skimmer area where the suction line connects. Of course you do have the option of calling a leak detection service to check that line before you dig, but at an expense.

I'm not extremely keen on cutting into my concrete. I'd have to do a lot of researching and video watching to feel comfortable that I could put it all back. I have open dirt behind my skimmer. Would my plumbing be accessible from behind?

 

[Texas Splash]

Would my plumbing be accessible from behind?

It should be. Once you pull-away all that soil however, you might want to have some supports ready to place under the concrete as a safety measure to help ensure that slab doesn't try to collapse on your while underneath. That could result in quite a headache.

 

[Dan Morrill]

Started digging it out today. Not totally done yet, but enough to know that my leak is definitely at the base of the skimmer. Getting quite wet down there.

It also looks like I'll definitely have access to the leak. Most of my skimmer is not incased in cement. I know very little about pool building. Is that normal? The only part of the skimmer surrounded by cement is the upper part that is in the pad itself.

 

[Texas Splash]

Most of my skimmer is not incased in cement. I know very little about pool building. Is that normal?

Yes, that's common. Only cement around the top (decking).

 

[Dan Morrill]

Water is shooting out the bottom of the vertical black poly piece going into my skimmer where is meets the elbow. I replaced clamps and tightened them really good but that did not stop the leak.

What's next? Replace the whole section? It would be a mighty big pain to dig more out and start bracing the concrete. Could some JB weld stuff work here?

 

[Texas Splash]

Good find. I would be inclined to remove the clamps if possible and replace with PVC glued into place.

 

[Dan Morrill]

I ignored my lazy desire to try some JB weld and replaced with cpvc and glue. Turns out the elbow joint had cracked. Waiting for glue to cure before seeing if I did it right. The last joint I didn't get in more than half way before the cement dried in place too hard to move.

 

[Texas Splash]

Turns out the elbow joint had cracked.

Those are very common areas to crack. Good you caught it.