Pool Leaking

kajun160 · May 7, 2012

Well I decided it was time to fill my pool up for the summer (live in Phoenix, AZ and its already upper 90's and low triple digits), and I noticed that my pool was leaking. There was tons of water on my tarp surrounding my pool. I have an above Intex ground 16'x4' pool, steel frame. I lost 1 inch of water in nine hours over night (temps at night are high 60's currently). I got in the pool and skimmed the bottom very slowly with a mask for about an hour trying to locate any air bubbles, which would hopefully show a possible hole in the liner. I found nothing! I drained the pool to about 3 inches remaining and I shop vac'd the water around the outside of my pool (on the tarp) and noticed there was no more leaking. After letting the sun dry the rest of the water on the tarp, I filled the pool to about 8 inches deep and noticed no leaking. So I filled it up just short of 1/2 way and I noticed the pool began leaking again. I checked the outside layer of the pool and found no indication of water on the sides. I am at a loss as to why it is leaking. I called my local Pool Company and they said a Dye Test might work, but said the water would leak regardless of 3 inches or 48 inches in the pool if the bottom had holes. So I am holding off on a dye test.

No seams are damaged
No water or wetness on the pools outside walls
No air bubbles
No leaks around the pump hookup areas (inside and out)
Can't see any hole(s) on the bottom that would allow 1 inch/9 hours of water loss

Any ideas? thanks

shortdogOH · May 7, 2012

Not sure, but I would guess the answer lies between that 8 inch and the 23 inch mark. We had an inflatable intex a few years back and the plastic pump lines got baked by the sun and cracked after a bit causing water to leak whether the pump was running or not.

kajun160 · May 7, 2012

Well I just got out of the pool and again saw no signs of leaking (air bubbles or ripped seams). Wife and I walked around the outside of the pool and saw no water from the 8-23 inch water line. I pushed around the seams under water and found no air bubbles or evidence of the seam are ripped. All my plumbing to and from the pump are solid, no leaking around them. I am racking my brains on this! No leak detection method is working.

I don't want to call a Pool Guy out to my house as it would probably cost me around $200 and the pool was only $250. I am assuming the Intex brands of pools are junk more or less?

duraleigh · May 8, 2012

Let it leak down until it stops. You will likely have some water loss (1/4 inch or so) due to evaporation but let the water level find the level of the leak for you.

shortdogOH · May 8, 2012

We had our intex less than two years. The liner held up during that period but it was the inflatable ring type, and the ring started losing air, and when unchecked, caused the walls to collapse. Got tired of refilling with water (after each collapse) and refilling with air (every other day). Not exactly sure how the steel frames work but I would imagine the liner fits inside the frame, so it is possible a small tear in the liner would cause water to leak out in the space between the liner and frame. You would not see the leak on the frame itself, until it ran out along the bottom, but maybe I am picturing it wrong. So I think as Dave said, find the height of that tear (using the water level at which the leaking stops) then go around and inspect the liner wall at that height.

Not sure you will ever see any air bubbles due to the water pressure involved.

mcoonan · May 10, 2012

Fill it up 1/2 way, dry the sides and tarp. And watch for where the water is coming from. If from the side you will see a stream/trickle down the side. If it from the bottom, you will see it seep out on the general area of the leak on the tarp. If on the side you can patch it when you find it. to find the leak on the bottom will take doing the dye test or drain the pool, and put it up on chairs (each leg goes on a chair or bench) so you can crawl under it and when you see the pinhole (do it on a sunny day) you will have found your leak. Before starting this though, make sure that you check your drains. I thought that I had a leak when filling last year, but found that the drain was not fully capped.

Samantha Sabrina · May 10, 2012

Is it possible that rain water gathered under the liner over the winter and when you started filling it up that rain water got pushed out?

esdd · May 14, 2012

There is a thread lurking about somewhere here where someone droped an above ground liner into the same pool.