Advice on Return/Skimmer HACK for leaky pool

[JoseJones]

Wow. I went the whole startup and summer without logging into TFP this year! I'm sorry, but I've been out by the pool having too much fun! Thank you for getting me on track TFP folks! Thank you!

Well, now that school is starting back up and it's getting coolish here I decided I don't want to be adding water every few days to keep our water level up to run the pump as well as slowly diminish our nice warm water.

Last year, I'll admit, I just let it go down to the leak level and only when the rain made the water level to the skimmer did I turn the pump on. That was not a great idea. It took forever to get the water clean and heated this spring. So I don't want to go through with that.

Our pool only has one skimmer and one return in the bottom of the deep end. The skimmer pipe is threaded and I rigged ABS pipe to go down 2-2.5 feet into the water which if memory serves will be about a 1 foot below the water line where the leak.

My question is if this holds it prime and actually works, do I have nothing to worry about? OR am I doing any adverse action to the pump motor by adding these 2 90 degree turns and length?

And now that I did this and look at he picture I realize I probablly could try capping the skimmer, but then I only have the deep end return running which, to be honest I don't know how much volume of water that is moving since its a really old pool.

http://twitpic.com/endb5

Thoughts anyone?

Thank you, again!

Jose

 

[spishex]

That can function hydraulically but it isn't safe to be swimming next to. Someone could easily get entrapped on the end of it. If you can lock the pool area and run the pump only when nobody's swimming then it'll do, but if there's any chance somebody would be in the water when the pump is on (especially a kid that was curious as to what that device is) then you shouldn't run it as is. You'd either need to block off the area where it's hanging into the pool (and that could cause it's own issues) or attach a safe suction fitting, like a VGB main drain, which would be overkill.

What's the deal with the leak? Any idea what's causing it?

 

[Bama Rambler]

If you're not going to be swimming in it and the pump keeps it's prime I see no reason it won't work. You're not adding enough head to be a problem unless you're already at the pumps limit (I'm sure you're not).

If you do plan to swim in it like that, go to one of your local building supply stores and get a ball type pump strainer and whatever adapters you need to screw it onto the end of the pipe. That will alleviate any entrapment issues. Or like Spishex said, just don't run the pump when anyone is in there.

 

[JoseJones]

Thank you for your headsup. I normally don't run the pump when my kids are in there. My kids are really little and the thought totally freaks me out.

I didn't mention, and its not obvious, but I added a 1.5 inch to 3 inch T at the bottom which both sides have drain covers on. You can put your hands, or what ever, on both sides and it really doesn't have enough umph that you can feel anything. But as I said, I normally don't run the pump when the kids are in there anyway.

I'm only doing this because I don't want to add water to the pool anymore, and for us the swim season is pretty much over. This way I can run the pump a little bit to keep the water clean this winter. This is our second year with the pool and last year I didn't run the pump as much as I should have, or cleaned it during the winter and it took too long to get it cleared up this spring. So I'm really only do this so I can run the pump in limp mode this winter.

For the leaks. The pool is really really old. There are lots of tiny cracks in the plaster on the bottom of the pool, and the tile is missing in a lot of places. The bond beam and coping is cracked as well. However, the leak seems to be below the bond beam by about a foot. Unless I'm wrong, I'm assuming the water level would stop at the leak. It's possible the weight changes somehow make it plug up, but 95% of the water is still in the pool when it hits this mark.

Anyway, this is my winter project. Figure out the leaks. Just not enough money right now for a remod or re-plaster. I'm also going to try some of these DIY solor heating. I'm amazed at how well a $200 solar cover works, but now that we get down to 40-50 degrees at night the water is slipping belowe 80 degrees. I just checked this morning and it was 75 degrees. Thats a bit too nippy for my taste, but on a hot afternoon the kids don't seem to mind it.

-Jose