In ground skimmer face plate, rusty, musty and leaking?

Jun 1, 2016
15
Maine
I have been struggling with water loss for a little bit now. Thought it was just because our area was in a "drought" with a lack of rain, but did the bucket test and it confirmed my suspicions.

Found there was at least two screws that were loose on the skimmer and one that just spins in place.

Figured I would take the skimmer plate off and then just replace the gasket.

As you can see in the pictures, I pulled the plate off and it immediately had that musty smell like a shower had been leaking where it shouldn't have been. Behind the liner was wet and when I use my thumb to rub from the plastic skimmer to the back of where the plate was, there is a gritty-ness. Like a metal is disintegrating.

Anyone with more experience that can help diagnose the damage? Can I just get the gasket back on and goop up the area behind the face plate above the base of the skimmer opening with silicone?

Would pictures from a different angle help? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 

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Do you have metal walls behind the liner? Looks like the leak has rusted the wall there. Ordinarily I'd say to try what you suggest but if the leak isn't fixed, it could destroy the wall behind the liner. Might want to get a specialist to at least check it out and see if they can fix it.
 
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