Possible leak?

[erica.lampley]

Hello! I'm a new pool owner. It came with the house! After much trial and error (before I found TFP!) I managed to get it open and my chemicals right. The liner is very bleached out and it has aluminum top rails so I'm assuming it's relatively old but do not know the exact age. My problem is, I think it may have a leak on the floor but do not see anything on the liner. There is a spot about a foot in diameter that feels the way wet sand on the beach feels when you walk on it and I did not notice it earlier in the season. While replacing the liner or possibly even going to a bigger pool altogether was something I've been considering for next season, now I'm worried I may have to deal with a major issue this year. I don't notice a significant drop in water level but it's also been 90 and above for over a week and the pool is in full sun. I have read it's not good to close a pool for the winter with a leak, but I was hoping to hold off on liner replacement at least until next year. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :?

 

[Bama Rambler]

You can do a bucket test to see if it's leaking. Fill a bucket about 2/3rd's to 3/4th's full and set it on a step in the pool. Carefully mark or measure the water level of the pool and the bucket. Then the next day, measure them both again. If they went down the same there's no leak. If the pool went down more than the bucket the pool is leaking.

 

[erica.lampley]

Thank you! I will try that and let you know the outcome. This is a great site and I've learned SO much since I found it! Most of my problems on opening the pool were resolved when I found TFP!

 

[cramar]

I was thinking about this over the weekend.
We live in a pretty windy area and I started thinking that the effects of wind evaporation would be a factor on my pool, if so I don't think a bucket would show the same results.
I got to thinking about this from a report last year that blamed most of Lake Superior's drop in water level on huge amounts of wind evaporation, albeit on a smaller level I'm wondering if wind, combined with sun, would have a greater effect than just the sun alone, and also if the buck would suffer the same wind evaporation since the surface area is less.

Or it's just trivial, I don't know. :blah:

 

[Bama Rambler]

In practice the bucket and pool will evaporate the same amount. The only thing that makes a difference is in certain situations if you set the bucket out of the pool, the water temp will be different, and that changes the evaporation. That's why we recommend sitting the bucket in the pool.

 

[goofiness]

We live in a hot, dry area that is often windy in the late afternoon and evening. I have found the "bucket test" to very useful when I have had concerns about leaks. Also, I find that wind is much more a factor than temperature, and both the bucket and the pool can drop 1/4" overnight when it's windy.