So, this pool has been literally neglected for 5-7 years. In March i pulled the cover off and the water was to the top. It held water. So I worked for weeks digging muck out of the black water. And Slamming and got the pool crystal clear. The kids were swimming and loving life. Now after all these weeks and hard work i am literally losing water dramatically. I searched high and low for tear in liner. My question is this. why/how can it hold water all these years neglected and all of a sudden it literally below the skimmer line and still dropping. I am so depressed. Worked so hard. Water was to the top after neglected for years and now this!
WOW!! What a journey. Now more problems please help.!!
- Thread starter dredey
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,979
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
I suspect either a new tear has developed, which is possible with an older liner that was neglected. Maybe got brittle somewhere and all the activity and new chemically treated water caused something to give. Or, if this was a home you moved into, perhaps an existing leak was repaired just enough to get by for the sale until you got everything going again and something gave way. In any case, it's good you were able to clear the water before learning of the leak so that you can properly inspect the interior of the pool. Of course you'll systematically check the suction side and pressure side plumbing as well, but having clear water is a big deal. Hopefully you find it quickly and with a little pain as possible. Besides plumbing and liner issues, if you have a multiport valve on that DE filter, don't forget to check the waste line to ensure water isn't simply seeping-out to "waste" from a bad spider gasket.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,979
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,433
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Some good suggestions on that page for the OP that I highlighted below:
The body of the pool itself can become compromised, be it the liner or the shell of the pool itself but sometimes a water loosing leak in the plumbing will be buried underground and won't be evident. The way to tell if it's the pool or the plumbing is to plug all the inlets and outlets (returns, skimmers, drains, cleaner lines') ' mark the water level with a piece of tape or a pencil mark and see if the water drops in 12 - 24 hours. To keep the effects of evaporation out of this test, fill a bucket with water, mark the level of the water in the bucket, set it on the stairs and compare the water loss between the pool level and the bucket level. If the pool itself doesn't show any loss with the lines plugged, the problem is in the underground plumbing.
If the pool is still losing water while the lines are plugged, the vessel itself is somehow compromised. First look around the entire pool surface for anything that looks suspect or unusual. If you see anything you can gently squirt a little food coloring in the area and see if it gets drawn into the place you think may be the leak ' the water should be calm, don't stir up the water while squirting, you are looking to see a tendril of the color being drawn into the leak
At this point i've let the water drop below the skimmer plate to see if it stops and could be the skimmer plate gasket which the screws were lose i checked and tightened them while water was above it but it still dropped. Now it's below the plate.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,979
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Once below the skimmer, your next areas of interest might be a light niche if you have one and then the return jet lines. Of course still inspecting the perimeter of the waterline for any possibilities as well. If you have a main drain, that's suspect as well as many have a hydrostatic valve that can give-out over time.
There’s no light in the niche. The previous owner never replaced it. I just went in and quietly with a mask put food coloring on the conduit hole and the food coloring got sucked in. How do I stop the leak?
The conduit hole where the light cord goes in is totally open. I’m having trouble figuring out if the hole is open wouldn’t water always get into the conduit?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,979
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Sorry, just catching up. 
Are you saying the dye got sucked "into" the conduit hole? Not pulled around the hole where it mates to the back of the niche shell? The conduit itself is designed to fill with water back towards the equipment pad and eventually stop when the conduit comes up & out of the ground (by code) to its electrical junction, but they can leak as well - somewhere underground in its run. Many pools leak at that "joint" where it connects because the pool/ground shifts just enough to pull that conduit off the back of the niche shell. If the conduit itself is definitely sucking the water, that means somewhere back towards the equipment pad the conduit developed a crack and it leaking. Repairing that conduit is always the "ideal" scenario in case the light is used later, but sometimes just isn't practical.
Depending on the scenario, there are various products to do the repair. If the leak is the confirmed to be in the conduit itself, yes, there are rubber (compression) plugs/wedges designed to be pressed into that location (Cord Stopper is one such product I believe). They even allow the cord to still be pulled through. But you can also use an epoxy product for that conduit as well to totally seal it up. But if you have any concern about using the light down the road or possibly selling later, be careful about what you chose. It would be ideal to use a product that's not permanent (doesn't cure hard) so that if you ever need to get in there later you can. There are so many different underwater/marine epoxy's, I couldn't give you a specific brand to checkout.
Are you saying the dye got sucked "into" the conduit hole? Not pulled around the hole where it mates to the back of the niche shell? The conduit itself is designed to fill with water back towards the equipment pad and eventually stop when the conduit comes up & out of the ground (by code) to its electrical junction, but they can leak as well - somewhere underground in its run. Many pools leak at that "joint" where it connects because the pool/ground shifts just enough to pull that conduit off the back of the niche shell. If the conduit itself is definitely sucking the water, that means somewhere back towards the equipment pad the conduit developed a crack and it leaking. Repairing that conduit is always the "ideal" scenario in case the light is used later, but sometimes just isn't practical.Depending on the scenario, there are various products to do the repair. If the leak is the confirmed to be in the conduit itself, yes, there are rubber (compression) plugs/wedges designed to be pressed into that location (Cord Stopper is one such product I believe). They even allow the cord to still be pulled through. But you can also use an epoxy product for that conduit as well to totally seal it up. But if you have any concern about using the light down the road or possibly selling later, be careful about what you chose. It would be ideal to use a product that's not permanent (doesn't cure hard) so that if you ever need to get in there later you can. There are so many different underwater/marine epoxy's, I couldn't give you a specific brand to checkout.
Thanks for the reply. The dye got sucked into the perimeter around the conduit. Hoping to get ab epoxy putty tomorrow see how that goes