12 inches loss of water in a vinyl liner in ground pool!!!

[Jason_D]

Dear TFP Members

We are complete newbeis to the swimming pool and all that goes with it. We are in MA and had an extreme winter with lots of snow. With some signs of summer, we had our pool opened and restarted by Surfside Pool. It was started on Friday and by today we have lost 12-15 inches of water! In extreme desperation, we turned off the pump. Last year we were told that our liner is old and needs to be replaced. I have following questions. Hopefully few of you would be kind enough to answer. Just as a reference - pool is 18X36, ~ 25000 gallons, had a main valve (?) at the bottom of the pool.

- Where is all the water going? is there some kind of big trouble in making?
- Shall we try to fill the water?
- Where could possible the water be leaking from? I noticed that liner is bulging out at several places and I can feel water behind it. We are planning to have the liner changed ASAP but what should we do in the meanwhile.

Thank you very much for your support and help

 

[Jason_D]

Posted pool details dear TFP contributors

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. The chances are pretty good that there is a pretty big opening in your liner. The water leaking out is behind the liner and that's why your pool walls are bulging. That water is slowly being absorbed into the ground around your pool and that would account for your water loss.

I would call Surfside Pool as it seems this started happening AFTER they opened the pool, correct? See what they say and see what they can do to fix it. Keep us informed.

 

[Jason_D]

Thank you very much for the prompt reply duraleigh. Ur reply is very much Appreciated. I did try to do dye test at two spots I suspected - light and three patches where liner must have been compromised and repaired by the previous owner.. But could not find anything - frankly I do not trust my test anyway. Water leakage did start after surfside restrarted the pool. We did call surf side and they suspect that some pipe could be cracked even though when he started the pool, he said he pressure tested it and everything appeared fine.

Is there anything we should do immediately? Is there any kind of danger before we can have a professional come and look at it?

thanks!!

 

[Isaac-1]

There really is not much you can do other than let it settle to its own natural water level, this may give a clue where the leak is.

 

[Jason_D]

Thank you very much Issac-1. We shall keep our fingers crossed and pray! Our long weekend as you may imagine turned into a complete fiasco except for nice Memorial Day parade!!
Any additional thoughts are welcome, We are feeling very overwhelmed.

 

[Jason_D]

Dear All

I had some pictures of when the pool was built and could see that there is a what looks like a concrete wall and cemented floor behind the liner (see attached picture). Can water still be absorbed at such fast rate? We are worried if there is some pipe broken and would require extensive excavation.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Isaac-1]

Looks like metal walls with poolcrete (cement) floor, these can easily develop cracks and holes as the poolcrete is thin. The problem may be in the pipes too, but those can be isolated to tracked down too. One step at a time....

 

[Jason_D]

Thanks Issac - I shall keep reminding myself of that - one step at a time. How we take things for granted till they become a problem:-(

 

[PAGirl]

Have you tried closing the floor drain?

 

[Jason_D]

Thanks for ur suggestion PAgirl - yes we did close them - drain at the bottom as well as skimmer. We did that yesterday morning but water level still dropped further about another 4 inches. Today in the am when I woke up, it seems that it is still going down but at a slower rate - it appears.