Daily water loss of 3/16" with filter on

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Update to the story... American Leak Detection finally located the leak(s). We have 3 spots were the rocks along the edge of the pool are not quite connected to the plaster. You don't want to ask how many hours their guy spent looking and testing, he tested everything twice I think. After the second visit I began to wonder if the rocks themselves were porous and in need of sealing, or if the plaster itself could be leaking somehow without visible cracks. So, I wasn't too far off in my guess. On the third visit he looked at the underside of the rocks very carefully and found 3 different areas that had leaks.

And, the checkvalve that keeps the spa from leaking back into the pool is not holding, so that explains the falling water level in the spa. And as for the bubbles in the spa when the blower was off, well, not quite sure about that but they said the lines are good and so I will let it go at that.

I cannot explain how it seemed that the water level was not falling during the day when the system was off, but perhaps the water loss depended on the water uptake of the grass and trees or whether the sprinkler system had saturated that area. There is a bed right there next to the pool that has sprinker heads in it.

So, now I need to ask if this is something we can seal or do we need a professional to do this. American Leak says that is not a repair they do, and they simply referred me to The Association of Pool and Spa Professionals for a list of companies that are in this group.

It is still too cold to get into the pool IMO, and that is one vote for paying someone who has the right equipment to do it. But, if it is something as easy as caulking then we could lower the water level a bit and let the areas dry a little and then caulk it up ourselves. Or maybe it is best to let someone reseal the whole top edge of the pool, just to be sure. I know that the pool will need re-plastering in a few years and I don't want to do anything that will be a problem then. I can do a decent job of caulking, but I don't know if I can do a neat job of it hanging over the edge of the pool working upside down.

Can I get some advice here? Is this a DIY job or call out someone?

Anonapersona
 
Well.... I am not any good with getting photos from a camera to the computer, and we don't have an underwater camera. I can't see the cracks without getting into the pool and it is too cold still for me. (whine and cheese, anyone?)

But... when we figure out how to do it, pros or on our own, I will remember to get a photo somehow. I guess the pool water level will need to be lowered to do the repair.

Now, I have to wonder if this explains the centipedes I always find in the pool. Maybe they washed out of the flowerbed when the sprinklers came onpushed into the pool theough the gap then. It was sort of creepy, finding 20 or 30 in the pool some days.
 
duraleigh said:
Well, I have not thoroughly read this thread so I may be off base. A 3/16" water loss in a Texas pool does not seem alarmingly abnormal. Do you have visible signs of the loss? Is the ground wet, etc.?
Click to expand...

In case you don't want to go back to read the whole thing to see those answers and how this progressed here is the story in a nutshell. There is a lot of weeping of water at the curb in front of the house and the loss of 1 1/2" of water per week -- in the winter which is the rainy season here. There are no large leaks in piping that we could find and no obvious wet areas or sinkholes.

I do not know how much water might be added in the dry summer season, we moved in Thanksgiving week. The neighbor reports that since they replastered they have added NO water all winter.

The prior owner of the house thought that weeping was normal and just kept filling up the pool. We thought there was a problem, even though the pool inspector and the house inspector said the wet curb did not indicate a leak somewhere. All of them were wrong.

Even the leak detection company almost missed it. I calculate that this was 900 gallons per week that was being lost. When water rates double later this year that is going to become an issue.
 
Update on the leak and the repair.

After consulting with a few different sources and getting several different answers I bought some pool putty for $20 at a local pool store. It is a two-part system with hardener and putty that is combined to use. It sets up under water or above water. Kinda white, looks fine with plaster, not that you can see it below the rocks anyhow.

By hanging over the side of the pool and using a mirror, the gaps that needed filling were obvious. The repairs didn't take too long, one of us supplying the bits of putty and the other hanging over the side of the pool to apply it. Once the pool is warm enough to get into, we will carefully re-inspect the entire junction between the pool plaster and the rocks and touch up more if there is any question about it, but the leak guy did check it all he said. And he suggested we have someone do the entire rock/plaster connection.

Sorry no pictures, I considered trying to get a photo of the mirror images but you probably wouldn't have seen much. One long rock had a gap of maybe 1/16" that was perhaps 5 inches long, but hard to say if it was all actually leaking. It was the edging just above the beach area and without a mirror you'd never have seen it, water depth there is maybe 3" to 5" and the rock overhangs by 3" or more. Another rock had a small v-shaped indentation on the bottom side and the plaster had not been attached there, the size of my fingertip-- that one I could feel flow going through. Another leak was between rocks, where the grout and plaster met. My better half, who did the actual repair, was very generous with the putty and patched up anything that looked like it could leak, beyond the spots indicated by arrows that American Leak Detection left us.

The money spent on American Leak Detection was well worth it. I would have begun digging up the yard looking for piping leaks next. Actually we had already started that and proved the water was not coming from the open land behind the fence. Am. Leak tested and found no piping leaks -- totally not what I expected. Inspecting the rocks required a wetsuit at this time of year and I was so convinced it was piping that I would never have looked carefully enought to find these 3 spots. Particularly the one so deep under the rock at the beach area.

Interesting about the consulting different sources on the repair. The pool company who did the repairs for the home inspection said by phone they could do a $400 plaster patch job, which seemed totally overkill for this. When their repairman was over to replace the check valve, he refused to try to look at the site of the leaks to tell the repair side of the business the nature of the problem. By phone the repair side suggested we stop in the store to see what they had to offer, which is where the putty came from.

Another company suggested that I use silicone to seal it, but cautioned the area had to be clean and dry -- not likely to happen since there is so much water on the other side of that leak. I can't imagine how long it might take to insure the areas were dry. Underwater putty was clearly the right answer.

Now, one issue left here. The leak guy removed all the eyeball things when he was doing the testing and some of them are not pointing in the same direction as before.

How do I remove them or reposition?
 
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