Losing water. Can't find the leak.

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M

maxz

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May 14, 2013
15
I opened my vinyl IG pool last week, and have noticed that I lose about 1/2" of water per day. I have a slight drip at the pump, at a rate of 15 drips per minute, which according to a water loss calculator that I found online, amounts to about a gallon during a 12 hour run. That certainly does not explain a 1/2" of water in a 24k gal pool. I can't find any cracks or holes in the vinyl, I tried food coloring around some suspect areas to no avail. This is not due to evaporation. The temperature has been in the low 70's since I opened the pool, and I didn't even lost 1/2" a day last summer during 100F days.

I'm not sure if you guys can help me since I'm sure that's a tough problem to solve without seeing the pool, but maybe you can point me to common problem areas.
 
I had my backwash hose connected to the backwash port, so originally i didn't check there. I just went out and removed the hose to check for leaks. It ran for a few minutes without a drop. That doesn't seem to be it. I marked the current water level and i turned the pump off. Tomorrow morning i'll see if I lost any water without the pump running.

This is only my second year with a pool, I purchased this house last summer, so i'm not too experienced but 1/2" loss without evaporation doesn't sound like a major leak. How big of a hole in the lining would I have to be looking for? I'm thinking that it's not an obviously large tear, perhaps the tiny hole is in the deep end.

On second thought, when I opened the pool I had no water loss over the winter, so i doubt i could have developed a leak in the vinyl over the last 5 days.
 
If you didn't lose water over the winter but do now it may be a leak in the pipes. Turning the pump off may or may not prove that. Was your plumbing winterized? If so you may need to isolate the skimmer(s) and return(s) to narrow it down.
The easiest test is to let it drain until it stops. The leak is at that level. From what you say, it sounds like it may be in the pipes.
 
mmcgovern said:
If you didn't lose water over the winter but do now it may be a leak in the pipes. Turning the pump off may or may not prove that. Was your plumbing winterized? If so you may need to isolate the skimmer(s) and return(s) to narrow it down.
The easiest test is to let it drain until it stops. The leak is at that level. From what you say, it sounds like it may be in the pipes.
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Overnight I lost 1/4" in 12 hours with the pump off. Yes my plumbing was winterized but when i opened the pool I had a crack in the skimmer, which i sealed with Epoxy before I refilled the pool. The epoxy is holding very well and food coloring is not showing any signs of leaks in that area, I also don't see any other cracks in the skimmer. If it is in the pipes, I'm afraid to ask, but is there anything I can do about it?
 
maxz said:
Overnight I lost 1/4" in 12 hours with the pump off. Yes my plumbing was winterized but when i opened the pool I had a crack in the skimmer, which i sealed with Epoxy before I refilled the pool. The epoxy is holding very well and food coloring is not showing any signs of leaks in that area, I also don't see any other cracks in the skimmer. If it is in the pipes, I'm afraid to ask, but is there anything I can do about it?
Click to expand...

Have a leak detection done, ask each company if they guarantee to find it.

If it is a plumbing leak, the first hole opened in the wrong place would have covered the leak detection.

If its the liner, compare the cost of the leak detection to a new liner.

I cant speak for other franchisees or different companies but my company patches holes on liners (10 patches) and makes epoxy repairs at no extra charge.
 

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I plugged the returns and i'm still losing water, so it's not in the plumbing. I inspected the skimmer again and found a very slow leak using food dye where the black arrow points to in the picture. It only leaks in a small area, maybe an inch long, it doesn't leak at the rest of that joint, such as where the orange arrow is pointing. I tried looking at some diagrams online of skimmers, as i'm not too familiar with why that joint is there or where it goes. If water is leaking into that seam, would that be leaving the pool? If so, can i just drain the water below the skimmer and epoxy that seam?

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