26k Gallon Inground Pool, Latham Vinyl Liner (Newly Replaced in 2020), Hayward VS Pump, Hayward Heater, Hayward Sand Filter (Zeo Sand), Location is Suburbs of Chicago.
Ok, here goes nothing. I've lived in my house for 11 years. Initially had pool service, then learned all the chemistry and care techniques (from these forums) and have maintained, opened, closed, managed every part of my pool for the last 7 years. Brand new liner put in in spring of 2020. Everything working great and no problems at all for 3.5 years.
In Sept 2023, just before closing time, I noticed the pool was dropping a good amount of water. 1-2 inches every 3-4 days. I thought perhaps as the nights were getting cooler and the pool temp was warmer, it could be evaporation as usual, nothing to panic about. We left on a 7 day trip and returned home to find the pool water had dropped below the skimmer intakes (Yikes!).
I began a dozen or so bucket tests over the course of 2 weeks. Consistently found the water in the pool dropping 1-2 inches every 24-48 hours, while the bucket remained exactly where it was. This was not evaporation.
I hired a pool leak detection company. They used a number of tools. A digital float to confirm the water level was dropping, the hydrophones to scan all over the pool for leaks in the liner, we dye tested every fixture (pool lights, return lines, spa lines, spa intakes, skimmer baskets, every fiberglass spa/walk-in stair seam where the liner meets the fiberglass) no leaks detected. It was getting late into October now and I had to close the pool, so we decided to just do our typical winterizing (blow out all lines, plug returns, gizmo skimmers, air lock the main drain, etc). The water level stopped dropping and remained full all winter through to spring of 2024 (which confirmed there is no liner leak of any kind).
Open the pool here in may as usual. Water starts to drop again. Call another pool leak specialist company to do a full pressure testing of returns, skimmers, main drain, everything. We had to get the pool warmed up for them to do this because a diver with an air line had to go down to the main drains to plug and test everything. Confirmed that every single return, skimmer, main drain, spa intake, etc. held 15 psi without moving even a little. No cracks or leaks in any of the plumbing anywhere.
I am completely out of options now and the water loss continues. I have to refill by hose a few inches every 4-5 days to maintain. I will share some photos of our pool below.
The one and only thing that remains a mystery is the spa seating area near the deep end of the pool. The spa jets are not removable. You can twist them to the right to turn them off, or to the left to open them, but you cannot remove and plug and them individually. The plumbing after the chlorine feed diverges to the 3 main returns (individually pressure tested), and one line going to the spa. I have valves plumbed in to control if the 3 mains are on or off, or if the spa line is on or off, or both on/off. When winterizing I can either blow out the spa line and air lock. Or I can blow them out and fill that line with anti freeze. I have turned off this spa line so no pressurized water is flowing to the spa and still experience the water loss. Also, if the water was leaking back into these spa jets it should've leaked down to the lowest spa jet during the winter. It did not. So despite turning this off or air locking it again, it does not appear to be the problem.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas for anything I should try or look closer at, it would be greatly appreciated. $1,000's have been spent trying to figure this out and were still at square one. Thank you.
Ok, here goes nothing. I've lived in my house for 11 years. Initially had pool service, then learned all the chemistry and care techniques (from these forums) and have maintained, opened, closed, managed every part of my pool for the last 7 years. Brand new liner put in in spring of 2020. Everything working great and no problems at all for 3.5 years.
In Sept 2023, just before closing time, I noticed the pool was dropping a good amount of water. 1-2 inches every 3-4 days. I thought perhaps as the nights were getting cooler and the pool temp was warmer, it could be evaporation as usual, nothing to panic about. We left on a 7 day trip and returned home to find the pool water had dropped below the skimmer intakes (Yikes!).
I began a dozen or so bucket tests over the course of 2 weeks. Consistently found the water in the pool dropping 1-2 inches every 24-48 hours, while the bucket remained exactly where it was. This was not evaporation.
I hired a pool leak detection company. They used a number of tools. A digital float to confirm the water level was dropping, the hydrophones to scan all over the pool for leaks in the liner, we dye tested every fixture (pool lights, return lines, spa lines, spa intakes, skimmer baskets, every fiberglass spa/walk-in stair seam where the liner meets the fiberglass) no leaks detected. It was getting late into October now and I had to close the pool, so we decided to just do our typical winterizing (blow out all lines, plug returns, gizmo skimmers, air lock the main drain, etc). The water level stopped dropping and remained full all winter through to spring of 2024 (which confirmed there is no liner leak of any kind).
Open the pool here in may as usual. Water starts to drop again. Call another pool leak specialist company to do a full pressure testing of returns, skimmers, main drain, everything. We had to get the pool warmed up for them to do this because a diver with an air line had to go down to the main drains to plug and test everything. Confirmed that every single return, skimmer, main drain, spa intake, etc. held 15 psi without moving even a little. No cracks or leaks in any of the plumbing anywhere.
I am completely out of options now and the water loss continues. I have to refill by hose a few inches every 4-5 days to maintain. I will share some photos of our pool below.
The one and only thing that remains a mystery is the spa seating area near the deep end of the pool. The spa jets are not removable. You can twist them to the right to turn them off, or to the left to open them, but you cannot remove and plug and them individually. The plumbing after the chlorine feed diverges to the 3 main returns (individually pressure tested), and one line going to the spa. I have valves plumbed in to control if the 3 mains are on or off, or if the spa line is on or off, or both on/off. When winterizing I can either blow out the spa line and air lock. Or I can blow them out and fill that line with anti freeze. I have turned off this spa line so no pressurized water is flowing to the spa and still experience the water loss. Also, if the water was leaking back into these spa jets it should've leaked down to the lowest spa jet during the winter. It did not. So despite turning this off or air locking it again, it does not appear to be the problem.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas for anything I should try or look closer at, it would be greatly appreciated. $1,000's have been spent trying to figure this out and were still at square one. Thank you.
