Water Level Issue

SumoSimo · Jun 13, 2022

I am experiencing issues with my pool's water levels. My pool has a spa built in with a spillover. I also have my pool pump running for five hours a day. When the pool pump is running and the water level in the pool is ideal, everything is good. When the pool pump turns off, issues start appearing. These issues are as follows:

The pool pump turns off automatically at 9pm.
The water in the spa makes its way back into the pool.
When morning comes, the water level in the pool is higher, and the water level in the spa is right below the spa's return jets.
I turn on the pool pump.
Water goes back into the spa and starts spilling over, but the water level in the pool is lower than it was the night before. The difference in water level requires me to fill the pool back to its ideal level.

As a temporary solution, I would like to redirect all the water back to the pool. I would therefore drain and cover just the spa, but I want to understand if this is okay. I am worried about hydrostatic pressure, but would like to know if there are any other consequences with this approach.

I have attached photos of the spa below.

Poolbreh · Jun 13, 2022

Can you show pics of the intake and return on your equipment pad? Do you have an overflow line in the tiles or in an auto fill canister? Does the level drop to the same level as the pool?

1poolman1 · Jun 13, 2022

If you have to make up the water everyday that returns to the spa you have a leak outside the system. Otherwise the pool level would rise at night and return to normal when the spa filled.

To be sure, leave the system off for a couple of nights and see how low it goes. Much lower than the jets the leak is likely in the spa suction plumbing. If it stays the same, most likely in the return plumbing.

SumoSimo · Jun 22, 2022

Poolbreh said:
Can you show pics of the intake and return on your equipment pad? Do you have an overflow line in the tiles or in an auto fill canister? Does the level drop to the same level as the pool?

1poolman1 said:
If you have to make up the water everyday that returns to the spa you have a leak outside the system. Otherwise the pool level would rise at night and return to normal when the spa filled.

To be sure, leave the system off for a couple of nights and see how low it goes. Much lower than the jets the leak is likely in the spa suction plumbing. If it stays the same, most likely in the return plumbing.

The water level in the spa always stops just below the return jets.

I have attached a photo of the equipment pad. The return plumbing is on the bottom-left corner of the photo. The pipe going to the left is the return for the spa. The pipe going to the right is the return for the pool.

Poolbreh · Jun 22, 2022

I’m not seeing a check valve on your spa return. Isolate the valve closing off spa return completely or pool return completely and see if it still drains. Do you have an overflow in the tiles or overflow in an auto fill canister?

duraleigh · Jun 22, 2022

Well, here is an off-the wall response.......

i am pretty sure that is poison ivy just to the right of the leftmost jandy valve.

My SUPER-allergic reaction to it has taught me to spot it pretty readily. Round-up will knock it out in about a week......usually never to return but keep an eye out. Sorry I can't help with your real issue.

SumoSimo · Jun 22, 2022

Poolbreh said:
I’m not seeing a check valve on your spa return. Isolate the valve closing off spa return completely or pool return completely and see if it still drains. Do you have an overflow in the tiles or overflow in an auto fill canister?

I've actually been keeping the spa return completely closed as a temporary solution to this problem. In the photo, it indicates otherwise, but it was only for yesterday to clean out the spa a bit. When it's closed, the water drains ever so slightly. I guess that could be evaporation or something else.

I don't have an overflow in the tiles, and I'm not sure what an auto fill canister is. I don't have anything that automatically fills the pool with more water except for rain.

duraleigh said:
Well, here is an off-the wall response.......

i am pretty sure that is poison ivy just to the right of the leftmost jandy valve.

My SUPER-allergic reaction to it has taught me to spot it pretty readily. Round-up will knock it out in about a week......usually never to return but keep an eye out. Sorry I can't help with your real issue.

Thanks for the heads up!

Poolbreh · Jun 22, 2022

Your spa draining and you losing water are probably unrelated.

1poolman1 · Jun 22, 2022

Poolbreh said:
I’m not seeing a check valve on your spa return. Isolate the valve closing off spa return completely or pool return completely and see if it still drains. Do you have an overflow in the tiles or overflow in an auto fill canis

SumoSimo said:
I've actually been keeping the spa return completely closed as a temporary solution to this problem. In the photo, it indicates otherwise, but it was only for yesterday to clean out the spa a bit. When it's closed, the water drains ever so slightly. I guess that could be evaporation or something else.

I don't have an overflow in the tiles, and I'm not sure what an auto fill canister is. I don't have anything that automatically fills the pool with more water except for rain.

Thanks for the heads up!

If you keep the 3-way valve to the pool/spa shut off to the spa, does the spa start to overflow with the pump running. Some spas (like mine) have a dedicated line for that purpose and the pool/spa return valve needs to be shut to spa completely when in pool mode.
If it doesn't have a dedicated line and shutting the 3-way valve to the spa stops the problem with the spa draining, you need to get a check valve installed after that 3-way in the line to the spa. That check valve after the heater is not going to help.

SumoSimo · Jun 22, 2022

1poolman1 said:
If you keep the 3-way valve to the pool/spa shut off to the spa, does the spa start to overflow with the pump running. Some spas (like mine) have a dedicated line for that purpose and the pool/spa return valve needs to be shut to spa completely when in pool mode.
If it doesn't have a dedicated line and shutting the 3-way valve to the spa stops the problem with the spa draining, you need to get a check valve installed after that 3-way in the line to the spa. That check valve after the heater is not going to help.

The spa doesn't overflow in pool mode, so I guess that means I'll need to add a new check valve. Does that seem feasible with my setup? Looks a bit tight.

I attached the photo of my equipment pad again for convenience.

tstex · Jun 22, 2022

First, if you have an outbound drain in your pool when the spa drains into pool, the excess is leaving the pool. Put some tape over your drain to temp fix the water loss problem. This is only applicable if your water loss is not by a true leak in your spa.

Next, need to identify where your leak is happening if it is not out your drain spa overflow...we can eliminate that by covering your pool wall drain. If you do not have one, then the leak is probably at your spa returns

1poolman1 · Jun 22, 2022

SumoSimo said:
The spa doesn't overflow in pool mode, so I guess that means I'll need to add a new check valve. Does that seem feasible with my setup? Looks a bit tight.

I attached the photo of my equipment pad again for convenience.

Not really that difficult. Could even use your existing check valve and raise the pool/spa valve plumbing. Just a bit of creative plumbing.

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Water Level Issue

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