Chasing a Leak

[Drew31]

Been chasing a leak for a long time now and just running out of ideas... It's very small. Around 1/8" per day. 18'x36' inground. Separate main/skimmer lines. Equipment pad is (and has been) dry. We have an electric autocover and pool is closed most of time when not in use, so we should lose very little in evaporation.

History

• Winter of '16 - We had just moved in so knew very little. Had an issue with pool cover and repair guy noticed pool level had dropped significantly. It was mid-light level.
• Spring '16 - Diver checks for leaks. Found a couple holes in liner and patched. Light checked out, noticed a gap around main drain and patched.
• Summer '16 - Closing '17 - Continued to notice small water loss. Seemed to be less when pump running, but just memory.
• Winter '17 - Monitored water level during winter and added when got too low. Continued to lose ~1/8" a day.
• Summer '18 - New Liner installed.

Recent Action

• Bucket test to ensure not just evaporation. Sure looked like pool is losing more.
• There was a 24 hour period where I plugged main. It seemed like that slowed leak, though not definitive.
• Had plumbers pressure test lines. All checked out fine. They checked light, looked ok, but they patched to be sure.
• Plumbers came Thursday, I marked water level Thursday night and did bucket test. 24 hours later, looked to still be losing water.

At a loss at moment. Don't want to call plumbers back out just for them to tell me nothing is there again. Over years, I've had 2 divers, plumbers check and no one can find anything. Plus a new liner. Pump ran for 5 hours during 1st 24 hours and was off overnight for the final 12.



Starting - Thurs PM




24 hours later



36 hours later

 

[riley00dog]

We are dealing with a leak at the moment too. Probably loosing a little less water than you are. Ours is a new build and the leak has likely been there from day one unknown to us. Our pool is positioned right next to the back of our house and I noticed water seeping through our subfloor despite not having any rain. If it wasn’t for that I would have had no idea it was leaking. Leak detection were sent out by the pb and initially he found nothing despite both pb and I having suspicions it was in the hot water plumbing. I questioned his negative result in that line and he retested and found it. We are currently waiting on a fix which we are hoping is not too invasive. I would call someone else out to recheck all the plumbing. It’s likely small like ours due to how little water you’re loosing. Funny thing is I had assumed the small amount of water we were loosing was evaporation / splash out. Since the hot water returns have been bunged we have lost pretty much zero water. I would say maybe 2mm over two weeks and that’s with the cover off when it is usually on when not in use or the pool being maintained. I hope you manage to identify the leak. I’ve found it a really stressful process.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Riley is it is standing water in basement? bring pool FC through the roof & test basement water.

Even a strip test should do you well.

 

[sktn77a]

Drew31: Have you tried the food dye test at potential leak points (all seams, steps, returns, skimmer, light, etc)? Sounds like a small leak which may not be detected with this method but worth a try. Drop the dye at potential ponts of leakage with the pump off.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Drew31: Have you tried the food dye test at potential leak points (all seams, steps, returns, skimmer, light, etc)? Sounds like a small leak which may not be detected with this method but worth a try. Drop the dye at potential ponts of leakage with the pump off.

If it’s this negligible, getting a contractor with a hydrophone is a solid play.

 

[Drew31]

Drew31: Have you tried the food dye test at potential leak points (all seams, steps, returns, skimmer, light, etc)? Sounds like a small leak which may not be detected with this method but worth a try. Drop the dye at potential ponts of leakage with the pump off.

So I did do a test all around the main drain with it plugged and pool off. Could not tell anything. I did not do any of the other fittings given the new liner and the leak predated that and those fittings. My next step I feel is to call the plumbers back out, but at $135 / hr, I don't want to just have them come back on a wild goose chase.

 

[riley00dog]

Riley is it is standing water in basement? bring pool FC through the roof & test basement water.

Even a strip test should do you well.

Thanks. It’s not a basement as such but what is referred to here as a subfloor. Our house is cut into a hill. There wouldn’t have been enough water to test as the vertical plane was merely damp when it shouldn’t have been as we’d had no rain for months. It’s definitely pool water though as it has almost completely dried up since the leak was identified and intakes for that line plugged. In hindsight there was a pretty significant sign that had been missed. Not just by me. The boost pump for the heat pump has always been quite turbulent. I had called the company who installed and they said it didn’t seem right and they were going to come and look at it. No mention by them to check for leaks. Pb has been at the equipment pad serval times while it was running and nothing said. My sister who has had pools for over 40 years said it wasn’t right. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I do wonder how many people with pools have a subtle leak and don’t realise. If we didn’t have a subfloor this could have gone unnoticed for years.

 

[Drew31]

I'm beginning to think my best course of action is just deal with it and add water as necessary. It's ~1/8" per day give or take slightly so just about an inch per week. Just starting to think that at that rate its very difficult for anyone to find. I've spent more money trying to chase down this leak than just to add the extra water.

Now, if it gets up to 1/2"/ day or something like that...maybe it's a different story...

Don't know.

 

[sktn77a]

I'm beginning to think my best course of action is just deal with it and add water as necessary. It's ~1/8" per day give or take slightly so just about an inch per week. Just starting to think that at that rate its very difficult for anyone to find. I've spent more money trying to chase down this leak than just to add the extra water.

Now, if it gets up to 1/2"/ day or something like that...maybe it's a different story...

Don't know.

May be the best course of action. If you go on vacation for 2 weeks, you're looking at 1-1/2" drop in water level while you're away. That should be manageable. And you could always install an autofil valve (although these always make me nervous).

 

[Drew31]

May be the best course of action. If you go on vacation for 2 weeks, you're looking at 1-1/2" drop in water level while you're away. That should be manageable. And you could always install an autofil valve (although these always make me nervous).

Thanks. Thinking if the leak gets worse, it's obviously a much bigger deal but then it'd also be easier to find. Right now it's more of a nuisance. Worse part is just having to have a hose hooked up in the winter to add water. I did a calculation and adding 1" of water a week (based on our water rates) costs me ~$4 a month. Kind of seems like a no brainer to just pay that vs. this endless stream of techs that can't find anything for ~$150 a pop.

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If it’s this negligible, getting a contractor with a hydrophone is a solid play.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure what you're referring to here? Can you explain, or provide link I can read up?

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Thanks. Thinking if the leak gets worse, it's obviously a much bigger deal but then it'd also be easier to find. Right now it's more of a nuisance. Worse part is just having to have a hose hooked up in the winter to add water. I did a calculation and adding 1" of water a week (based on our water rates) costs me ~$4 a month. Kind of seems like a no brainer to just pay that vs. this endless stream of techs that can't find anything for ~$150 a pop.

- - - Updated - - -



I'll be honest, I'm not sure what you're referring to here? Can you explain, or provide link I can read up?

A microphone that can easily let operator hear a leak.

- I believe you have a liner pool? This guy had a slow leak, pool folded & snapped a frames. Water is a structural element. It was very expensive repair. We were able to straighten pool to a 1/2” tolerance at 40ft & were very lucky to do so.

 

[Drew31]

So you're pretty much telling me not to let it go and find the source

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Yup

 

[riley00dog]

I can understand it’s tempting to just add water as needed. Honestly part of me wishes we didn’t have a subfloor as I would have been non the wiser. Having said that your water is going somewhere. Will it cause significant problems? Maybe not but there is a chance that it will. I am dreading what our fix will involve but I need to deal with it. A leak could be incredibly costly down the track. I think you need to track it down too. Many companies here don’t charge if they can’t find the leak. Perhaps you could have a look for a company like that.