I have been searching online and talking to experts and I have not come much closer to solving the problem. I have decided to create a new post on this and tap out collective expertise of this group.
I moved into this house just over a year ago, there was always a leak in the pool and it always needed to be topped up, judging from the water bill, some months more than others. But nothing I couldn't handle. I bought a couple of bottles of Fix a leak (Marlig) and followed the instructions to a T. I let the product circulate 72 hours and the leak remained the same. I closed off all taps and all multiports I set to closed when the pump was not on because it seemed as though I was losing water mainly when the pump was off. That pointed to a suction side leak. Also the fact that the fix a leak didn't help (because fix a leak can only seal up pressure side leaks), pointed to a suction side leak. After a while it didn't matter at all if I had the pump on or off, the wter
One day I came home and the water level had dropped by half a foot in a single day. I decided to do what I usually do and top it up. It took a lot more to keep it topped up that month and when I got my water bill I realised I was just wasting huge amounts of water. So I let it go and the plan was to see at what level the water level would stabilise.
After 3 days the water level stopped dropping drastically. A week later and I still had more than half a pool of water (green water might I had since I saw no point in cleaning water I was letting drain off by itself). SO I decided to clean the pool and backwash the filter (I needed to do a LOT of backwashing so I lost some water to that) but basically the water level is now stable at the second step.
The water from the leak is coming into the pump room. Since the water has stabilised it is no longer leaking through the wall. The pump room floor is level with the pool floor and the roof is level with the lip of the pool. Its located at the deep end. The wall that is shared between the pump room and the pool is rather thick and the lower foot is wet with algae and mould. The main drain is located in the corner of the pool and is adjacent to the entrance of the pump room. The water is coming through the corner on the other end.
I am attaching a picture of this setup here. This picture was taken when the pool was empty and it had been empty for about 4 years by this time.
Dropbox - 2017-10-01 10.36.52.JPG
Dropbox - 2017-10-01 10.36.39.JPG
With the help of my daughter we did a dye test around the side of the pool where the leak definitely is. It makes no sense to look elsewhere. We checked all fittings, all cracks, all spaces between tiles and we get nothing conclusive. There was a small rack which seemed to be part of the construction of the pool, some dye was being sucked up on the one end of this crack so we patchedit up with a product called Pool Putty which is an underwater epoxy. This also made zero difference to the water level dropping.
Since the water level has dropped down to below the level of the return jets and the pipe that leaves the pump room to go to the return lines (which is lower than the level of the jets) AND the fact that closing off all the pipes and multiports, I have been able to discard the leak being anywhere on the pressure side. Also the leak has got to be lower down judging by the state of the pump room.
I am attaching images of the current state of the pump room. (Sorry it was dark when I took the pics)
Dropbox - IMG_7192.JPG
Dropbox - IMG_7193.JPG
Dropbox - IMG_7195.JPG
When my daughter did the dye test she was going underwater with a mask - no diving equipment at all, 20 seconds at a time to do the dye test. Causing a lot of turbulence we feel that we would be better off doing a proper dive with weights and a snorkel. My daughter noticed dye being sucked in under the main drain cover, removing the main drain cover we we were unable to get anymore dye sucked in.
The main drain has been filled with cement with a pipe sticking out the middle with no thread
Dropbox - IMG_7195.JPG
The plan here is to use pool putty around the edges of the cement and main drain where the grout seems to have fallen off. But now that the water level has stabilised I have put off that next step.
I cast a suspicious eye to the skimmer. The pipe from the skimmer goes directly horizontally towards the pump room, the pipe leaving the pump room towards the skimmer is about a foot below that. The water level has stabilised between these two points. Under all that concrete there are definitely some elbow joints but at what level the skimmer runs.
I closed the multiport tap which blocks the skimmer and main drain and I top up the skimmer...there seems to be water in the pipe but it drains away. I closed the skimmer leaving the main drain open and I get different results. When I top up the skimmer with water it doesn't drain away. So I mixed a bit of fix a leak in a bucket and filled the skimmer line.
This is where I am right now.
I am this close to calling in the big guys with the fancy equipment but I feel as though I am just too close to finding that leak.
Any input would be greatly appreciated here!
I moved into this house just over a year ago, there was always a leak in the pool and it always needed to be topped up, judging from the water bill, some months more than others. But nothing I couldn't handle. I bought a couple of bottles of Fix a leak (Marlig) and followed the instructions to a T. I let the product circulate 72 hours and the leak remained the same. I closed off all taps and all multiports I set to closed when the pump was not on because it seemed as though I was losing water mainly when the pump was off. That pointed to a suction side leak. Also the fact that the fix a leak didn't help (because fix a leak can only seal up pressure side leaks), pointed to a suction side leak. After a while it didn't matter at all if I had the pump on or off, the wter
One day I came home and the water level had dropped by half a foot in a single day. I decided to do what I usually do and top it up. It took a lot more to keep it topped up that month and when I got my water bill I realised I was just wasting huge amounts of water. So I let it go and the plan was to see at what level the water level would stabilise.
After 3 days the water level stopped dropping drastically. A week later and I still had more than half a pool of water (green water might I had since I saw no point in cleaning water I was letting drain off by itself). SO I decided to clean the pool and backwash the filter (I needed to do a LOT of backwashing so I lost some water to that) but basically the water level is now stable at the second step.
The water from the leak is coming into the pump room. Since the water has stabilised it is no longer leaking through the wall. The pump room floor is level with the pool floor and the roof is level with the lip of the pool. Its located at the deep end. The wall that is shared between the pump room and the pool is rather thick and the lower foot is wet with algae and mould. The main drain is located in the corner of the pool and is adjacent to the entrance of the pump room. The water is coming through the corner on the other end.
I am attaching a picture of this setup here. This picture was taken when the pool was empty and it had been empty for about 4 years by this time.
Dropbox - 2017-10-01 10.36.52.JPG
Dropbox - 2017-10-01 10.36.39.JPG
With the help of my daughter we did a dye test around the side of the pool where the leak definitely is. It makes no sense to look elsewhere. We checked all fittings, all cracks, all spaces between tiles and we get nothing conclusive. There was a small rack which seemed to be part of the construction of the pool, some dye was being sucked up on the one end of this crack so we patchedit up with a product called Pool Putty which is an underwater epoxy. This also made zero difference to the water level dropping.
Since the water level has dropped down to below the level of the return jets and the pipe that leaves the pump room to go to the return lines (which is lower than the level of the jets) AND the fact that closing off all the pipes and multiports, I have been able to discard the leak being anywhere on the pressure side. Also the leak has got to be lower down judging by the state of the pump room.
I am attaching images of the current state of the pump room. (Sorry it was dark when I took the pics)
Dropbox - IMG_7192.JPG
Dropbox - IMG_7193.JPG
Dropbox - IMG_7195.JPG
When my daughter did the dye test she was going underwater with a mask - no diving equipment at all, 20 seconds at a time to do the dye test. Causing a lot of turbulence we feel that we would be better off doing a proper dive with weights and a snorkel. My daughter noticed dye being sucked in under the main drain cover, removing the main drain cover we we were unable to get anymore dye sucked in.
The main drain has been filled with cement with a pipe sticking out the middle with no thread
Dropbox - IMG_7195.JPG
The plan here is to use pool putty around the edges of the cement and main drain where the grout seems to have fallen off. But now that the water level has stabilised I have put off that next step.
I cast a suspicious eye to the skimmer. The pipe from the skimmer goes directly horizontally towards the pump room, the pipe leaving the pump room towards the skimmer is about a foot below that. The water level has stabilised between these two points. Under all that concrete there are definitely some elbow joints but at what level the skimmer runs.
I closed the multiport tap which blocks the skimmer and main drain and I top up the skimmer...there seems to be water in the pipe but it drains away. I closed the skimmer leaving the main drain open and I get different results. When I top up the skimmer with water it doesn't drain away. So I mixed a bit of fix a leak in a bucket and filled the skimmer line.
This is where I am right now.
I am this close to calling in the big guys with the fancy equipment but I feel as though I am just too close to finding that leak.
Any input would be greatly appreciated here!
