Large leak after opening

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aquamike

aquamike

Member
Jun 5, 2022
20
Wexford, PA
Pool Size
21232
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I opened my pool yesterday (18' x 36' concrete w/ liner). Everything looked fine. A few hours later, I noticed the water level had dropped significantly – about six inches. I shut off the pump and that seemed to stop the water loss. I don't see water leaking out of anywhere so I don't understand where the water's going.

So… something's losing (a lot of) water between the drain and the pump intake. It's certainly nothing I can see. What do I do now?
 
I had a similar issue last year. Start with die test around light, skimmer, returns, etc. Then a leak detection company if you can't find it and go from there. On mine it was the return fitting bulkheads, 2 of 3 cracked. Had to cut concrete and replace the fittings.
 
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aquamike said:
I opened my pool yesterday (18' x 36' concrete w/ liner). Everything looked fine. A few hours later, I noticed the water level had dropped significantly – about six inches. I shut off the pump and that seemed to stop the water loss. I don't see water leaking out of anywhere so I don't understand where the water's going.

So… something's losing (a lot of) water between the drain and the pump intake. It's certainly nothing I can see. What do I do now?
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Was it full when you opened? Did the water stop leaking when it reached a fitting or bottom of skimmer in the pool or is it really related to the pump? Might need to fill it back up and check.

Do you have an auto drain? Maybe your filter backwash is on and dumping water rather than returning to the pool? Can check the returns for water coming out while the pump runs.
 
Bperry said:
Was it full when you opened? Did the water stop leaking when it reached a fitting or bottom of skimmer in the pool or is it really related to the pump? Might need to fill it back up and check.

Do you have an auto drain? Maybe your filter backwash is on and dumping water rather than returning to the pool? Can check the returns for water coming out while the pump runs.
Click to expand...
Quite full when it opened – top of the skimmer. It didn't stop at the bottom of the skimmer but I haven't drained it enough to reach the other fittings yet.

Not sure what an auto drain is. The filter back wash is not on. I have no hose connected to it and can see no water coming out. The returns are working. One of them seems lower pressure than the other. However when I turn that one off, the water level continues to drop.
 
aquamike said:
At the rate the water level's going down, I'd expect to see water gushing out of something.
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aquamike said:
Quite full when it opened – top of the skimmer. It didn't stop at the bottom of the skimmer but I haven't drained it enough to reach the other fittings yet.

Not sure what an auto drain is. The filter back wash is not on. I have no hose connected to it and can see no water coming out. The returns are working. One of them seems lower pressure than the other. However when I turn that one off, the water level continues to drop.
Click to expand...
I meant an overflow drain or a drain to waste valve that may be turned on. That much water loss should be pretty obvious which would point me to some kind of drain which isn’t visible. Anything going to the street? Maybe post a picture of your equipment pad and someone can take a look.

Maybe fill it back up and leave the equipment off which would at least tell you if it’s a shell issue or equipment.
 
When the pump is off, I'm not losing water, so I'm pretty convinced there's a leak on the pressure side.

I have two returns and I'm able to shut them off individually with a diverter valve. I left it running with only one return open and then the other return. In both cases, the water loss was the same.

I think the problem might be the spa seat. I see very little water coming out of those returns into the pool. Although I've never seen much water coming out of them in the year that I've owned this pool – this year it seems to be no more than a dribble.
 
I eventually got to the bottom of this. One of the diverter valves was broken so water was running to the deck jets which were capped off by the previous owner (presumably because of a leak).

The broken diverter valve sent water to both the spa seat and the deck jets so instead of replacing it, I just capped off the outlet going to the deck jets. That appeared to do the trick.
 
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