Please Help! Pool leak (under concrete) freeze tonight

[dmj4]

We ran our pump last night due to cold weather. We noticed yesterday that the water level had seemed to go down faster than normal. We filled the pool yesterday. This morning we had lost 6" of water.

We can hear a leak under the concrete at one of the seams. When I turn off the main drain valve, the leak changes from a gushing noise to a trickle, then stops. We also have a slide line that does not have it's own turn-off valve (terrible mistake), so in the winter we just attach a hose to it and let it run water freely into the pool. That keeps that line from freezing. When I plugged that slide line, the water leak gushed louder than when it is freely flowing.

We are expecting a freeze tonight (22 degrees). Tomorrow night is supposed to be 19 degrees.

Based on the above, any suggestions for getting through the night and for cutting up the concrete to repair the line? I'm afraid to turn-off the main drain line, to reduce the amount of the water leak, for fear that line will freeze in anothor spot that will be even harder to get to. If I leave it on, the water gush is huge.

Should I do a quick winterizing job? I don't have any plugs for the lines. I have 2 skimmers and 2 main drains. I also have deck jets, they are already winterized with RV antifreeze and the lines are closed.

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[waste]

Sorry to hear this!

Do you have air in the pump basket when the pool is running with the MD open?

How warm is the pool water? (if you heat the pool to 80*+ and have air temps in the 20*s, you'll loose a LOT of water to evaporation!)

What's hard for me to understand is hearing a suction side leak with the pump running :? As a negative pressure line, it shouldn't gush water with the pump on, you might hear air getting drawn in, but not water pouring out.

I'd certainly install a valve so you can winterize the slide line!

Let me know a little more about what you have going on and I'll do my best to help (pics are always welcome )

For tonight I'd just run the system as you have been (though you could partially close the MD valve and any suspect return lines - don't close off too many valves so as to raise the pump pressure more than 1 -3 psi!

 

[dmj4]

There is air in the strainer basket with the MD open. Earlier there was air in it with it turned off, too. The pool level was lower then because we had not looked in the dome and noticed the loss of water. We thought it was a pump issue until we noticed we had lost so much water. After just filling it yesterday it did not occur to us at first.

The noise sounds like water running through a pipe.
We can't see or feel a wet spot, though. It looks like the seam in the concrete has a larger gap than the other expansion gaps, but we don't see any water in the gap.

We have a dome over the pool, but have not been heating the water. The water temp is 48 degrees.

 

[dmj4]

With enough water back in the pool, the water or air running noise is much louder when the MD is open all the way. It is less when the MD is partially open. I can't close it very much because it appears that the 2 skimmers cannot take in enough water without the MD to keep enough air out of the basket.

With the pool full and the MD wide open, there is very little air in the pump basket.

The water or air noise is loud enough to hear from at least 10 feet away over the noise of the blower for the dome.

Thank you!!!!!!!!