Leak Suspected

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dcsmith

dcsmith

Gold Supporter
Nov 19, 2021
122
Ocala, FL
Pool Size
24000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I am still fairly new to pool chemistry. However, I think I understand that Salt, Calcium Chloride, Cyanuric acid, and Boric acid levels should not be depleted unless there is a leak and fresh water is added to bring pool level back up to normal (dilution) or heavy rain with overflow and dilution. Evaporation and refill should not cause depletion of these chemicals.

Am I wrong? If so, please point me in the right direction. I am planning to do a bucket evaporation test after the next pool top off.
 
CYA does degrade, slowly, over time, especially with high water temperatures and strong UV impact on the pool water.

The other three, should not change except for what you describe. The exception is the salinity, as it can rise from fill water, chlorine use, acid use, people, etc.
 
Thanks for this information.

So, Salt and CYA "can" be depleted based on what you wrote. However Boric acid and Calcium Chloride should not.

I am barely maintaining 250ppm Calcium Chloride despite adding about 1.5 lbs. a few days ago and after measuring today (Taylor Drop Test), I'm down to 240ppm. Salt is holding steady. CYA was down from 72ppm on 10/7/22 to 56ppm today - no rain. Borates are hard to measure with the strips. I think I'm at 50ppm.
 
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Salt does not go down, but up.

You need bigger swings. Using your style test kit, I would not trust the numbers to be consistent enough.
 
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The CH test going up or down by 10ppm is one drop of reagent, that’s the practical limit of the test. Because you’re adding more than 10 drops of R-0012 titrant, the tolerance is actually worse than +/- 10ppm because of droplet volume variations.

Your other tests are being done either with a photometer or an EC meter. Unless those instruments are properly calibrated, you’re unlikely to see the kinds of changes needed to determine if a leak is present.

My suggestion is to just do the bucket test and see what you get.
 
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