Hi,
New IG pool in NE FL completed in April. Pepple Tec "marcite" with Rico Rock coping and waterfall. Losing 3.5" water per week, far more than our previous pool which was just a few miles away. Multiple bucket tests show 1/4" loss from bucket, 1/2" from pool per day, even without water features running. So a leak, right? Pool contractor did dye test and didn't find anything but sealed returns, drains, and light receptacles. No change. Leak detection specialist came out, sealed spot between Rico Rock coping and marcite. Negligible change in bucket test. Leak detection specialist came back out and his equipment supposedly shows only normal water loss equating to 1/4" per day but I'm still losing 1/2".
Here' where it gets interesting. When I challenged our contractor on why my bucket test shows twice the loss from the pool than the bucket, his theory is that the Rico Rock coping may be the culprit due to either seepage through the cementious "rock" or greater evaporation along the coping due to how the water wicks up the Rico Rock moreso than tile coping. So we drained the water below the Rico Rock coping and ran water through drain with skimmer off. Loss for pool and bucket were about the same (strangely the bucket seemed to lose a bit more than the pool).
The Rico Rock wicking thing seems like a stretch to me however the water does wick up the Rico Rock coping about 1/2" above the water line. Could that cause an extra 1/4" per day? I suspect there may be a gap somewhere between the Rico Rock and the Pepple tec "marcite" but would the shell "catch" the water before it could go too far? This is a free-form pool, ~12K gallons with two tanning ledges.
Apologies for the novel but wanted to provide the full story. Any ideas, particularly from anyone with experience with Rico Rock coping?
New IG pool in NE FL completed in April. Pepple Tec "marcite" with Rico Rock coping and waterfall. Losing 3.5" water per week, far more than our previous pool which was just a few miles away. Multiple bucket tests show 1/4" loss from bucket, 1/2" from pool per day, even without water features running. So a leak, right? Pool contractor did dye test and didn't find anything but sealed returns, drains, and light receptacles. No change. Leak detection specialist came out, sealed spot between Rico Rock coping and marcite. Negligible change in bucket test. Leak detection specialist came back out and his equipment supposedly shows only normal water loss equating to 1/4" per day but I'm still losing 1/2".
Here' where it gets interesting. When I challenged our contractor on why my bucket test shows twice the loss from the pool than the bucket, his theory is that the Rico Rock coping may be the culprit due to either seepage through the cementious "rock" or greater evaporation along the coping due to how the water wicks up the Rico Rock moreso than tile coping. So we drained the water below the Rico Rock coping and ran water through drain with skimmer off. Loss for pool and bucket were about the same (strangely the bucket seemed to lose a bit more than the pool).
The Rico Rock wicking thing seems like a stretch to me however the water does wick up the Rico Rock coping about 1/2" above the water line. Could that cause an extra 1/4" per day? I suspect there may be a gap somewhere between the Rico Rock and the Pepple tec "marcite" but would the shell "catch" the water before it could go too far? This is a free-form pool, ~12K gallons with two tanning ledges.
Apologies for the novel but wanted to provide the full story. Any ideas, particularly from anyone with experience with Rico Rock coping?