How to find leak in full above ground pool

[rj2222]

Have an Intex AGP for a few years now, this year only after filling it up did I notice a bit of water by one of the legs, coming from somewhere underneath the pool. The water was barely noticeable so though maybe I was ok or it was condensation from the cold water filling up the pool.
Well now that it's full of water as of yesterday, now there's quite a bit of water in that area, and the level of water in the pool has dropped noticeably, so think I have a hole or bad seam or something.
I tried looking for bubbles in the water from standing outside the pool but didn't notice any.
Any tips on how to find where the water is escaping from? I tried feeling under the pool where I can and didn't find a hole/tear. Or do i just have to keep going underwater and feeling every inch of the bottom till i find it?

 

[Jamison04]

When they're on the bottom I'd imagine it be hard to find unless it was a noticeably large tear or hole. If it was me and I knew the general area I'd get my mask and snorkel and dive down and do a thorough check of the bottom and if there's a seam in that area I'd really focus on it.

 

[DKT113]

In my line of work we use Dye to detect leaks. The dye is sucked into the leak and very easily detectable.
If I had a leak I would probably get some food coloring.


I haven't seen that addressed on this site, because I haven't had that problem but if I did I would be using food coloring to find it.

 

[DigbyAllen]

I had a leak in my Intex last year. It was a pain to find it, but eventually I did and patched it underwater (no need to drain the pool) and all is well.

Put some food coloring in a small syringe. Vacuum the pool thoroughly. Put on a mask and snorkel and carefully look for any small imperfections on the bottom. Very slowly and gently squirt the food coloring near the suspected hole. It will be obvious if it is indeed a hole, as the colored liquid will be sucked into it rather than just dissipate in the water. Eventually I found a hole about the size of a pencil point but it was enough to cause a noticeable drop in water level overnight.

 

[phonedave]

Sometimes - somtimes, you can rent the sonic leak detectors as well. It is a underwater microphone and headset. You can actually hear the leak. In some areas of the country rental centers have them, in others, they don't even know what they are.

However, you can get food coloring anywhere


-dave

 

[DigbyAllen]

Well what do you know, I have another slow leak. I followed my own advice above, but despite spending an hour in the pool wearing my wetsuit, no luck. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it is only losing about 25 gallons per day, so even if I found the leak it might not enough to see dye being drawn into it.

I'll let the water warm up a bit and try looking again in a few days. If I still don't find it, I'm going to ignore it until it gets worse and then perhaps it will be easier to detect.