I have an 18x40 vinyl lined inground SWG pool. It has 2 skimmers, a return at one end, a 2 seat bump out that has 2 returns against the backrest, and wide no liner white stairs with returns at the sides. I have had a leak for a few years, tested with the bucket test. It was bad enough last year that I had a diver who said the lining looks great and we never had wet spots or drips in the pump area. It was losing 1-2 inches every other day by August when the rain slowed down and it was costing me too much in water and adding salt for the use we got from it. I shut some returns to try to diagnose, but nothing systematic and was sick of the issue so closed it early. When I opened it again this summer, I was determined to find the issue. I believe the issue is one of the returns going to the side of the stairs. It had putty on it because a 5 or so years ago I had a service open the pool because I could not deal with the cover myself, and I recall someone saying they were taking the return plugs out and it was stuck and a piece of PCV connector? piece came out of the wall. They claimed to screw it back in and I forgot about it for a few years until the leak got annoying.
For the purposes of my plumbing question, let's assume there is a break in the return underground shortly after the stairs. There are cracks there in the concrete too, so it makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me is that I have that one side stair return plugged, but the return on the other side open. Both returns are on the same line from the filter, and split near the stairs to get to each side. There is a shut off for each of the return lines - end, bump out seats, and stairs. All returns are open, but the one that I think is in error is plugged. The pool seems like it is not leaking now with that return plugged (been 3 weeks and water near same level), but it may be leaking slowly - haven't bucket tested and a lot of rain.
So from a plumbing standpoint, would water still try to push thru that return and leak? Or does the plug change pressure and water flow so it isn't an issue. Or something entirely different.
I want to understand it before I have someone dig.
For the purposes of my plumbing question, let's assume there is a break in the return underground shortly after the stairs. There are cracks there in the concrete too, so it makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me is that I have that one side stair return plugged, but the return on the other side open. Both returns are on the same line from the filter, and split near the stairs to get to each side. There is a shut off for each of the return lines - end, bump out seats, and stairs. All returns are open, but the one that I think is in error is plugged. The pool seems like it is not leaking now with that return plugged (been 3 weeks and water near same level), but it may be leaking slowly - haven't bucket tested and a lot of rain.
So from a plumbing standpoint, would water still try to push thru that return and leak? Or does the plug change pressure and water flow so it isn't an issue. Or something entirely different.
I want to understand it before I have someone dig.
