Is our pool too old to save?

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flowersnmygarden

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Jun 3, 2014
4
Phoenix, Arizona
I've been reading this site for several weeks, thanks to a friend who suggested it. Now I have a question I haven't been able to find the answer to.
Right now I'm ready to make it into a garden. We've had this place for a month and it's been one thing after another. We found out from our neighbor that he helped put in the slide(that we took down for safety reasons) 25 years ago. So the pool is at least that old. It's now leaking. Losing about an inch per day. More than double the bucket water test. I'm having to put more water in it daily just to keep it high enough for the pump to run. We don't have much money to sink into the pool, but would it even be worth it with such an old pool?
 
Welcome to TFP!

I wouldn't give up just yet, unless you never use the pool. Our pool was over 50 years old before it needed a major renovation.

Fixing leaks can be quite annoying. There isn't a whole lot we can do to ease that process. But we should be able to help even so, and with a little reading in Pool School you can avoid nearly all chemistry problems.
 
I've fixed the algae problem, I think we've pinpointed the air leak to the seal(I need to order the lubricant and replacement o-ring). I've been able to keep the water clear even with the air leak, thanks to the info here :)

*I* think the leak is under the pool deck, between the 3rd and 4th returns, going counter clockwise from skimmer, b/c the 4th return does not work. My husband thinks that the tree that's growing near the filter has caused the problems, and that the leak is probably there. He's probably right if the return not working could be a pressure/air leak issue?
 
Do you know if you leak is from suction side or return side? I had a huge leak in my return lines, under concrete, no good way for me to able to take care of it financially right at the moment, but I managed to rig an above ground return with pool/spa hose, some pvc and a few fittings from home depot -- total "fix" cost about $50 and less than an hour. If you're interested I can take pictures and tell you the methods that I used. It is definitely rigged and not repaired, but it works great and I can take the hose out and store it in the shed when company is over so it isn't at all unattractive.
 
HI flowergarden!

An easy way to see if the leak is on the suction side, *between the skimmer and the pump* is looking for air bubbles in the pump basket. If there are bubbles in there, then its suction side.

If the leak is on a return and all your returns are individually plumbed, it can be easy to isolate that retun from the pool and the leak will stop.

If you can give any specifics on how your pluming is set up, we might be able to help. A picture would be even better. We would want to see your entire plumbing set at the equipment pad.
 
Thanks Granny, I'd love to see pictures!

Divin Dave, in that case, I believe it's suction side. I can see bubbles in the pump glass. I can *hear* air at the top of the filter. I will try to get up pics this afternoon. A new issue just popped up(literally), with water coming out of my skimmer hole, leaving a huge amount of water on my deck. So I'm going to go search this issue and see what that could be.
 
Recently I was convinced I had an underground suction side leak so to confirm it before randomly digging up the lawn, I rigged up a DIY pressure tester. Glad I did because I found that it was not the problem. You may want to do the same. My suction leak turned out to be the internal impeller seal in the pump body.
 

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