Inground pool losing water

[natwhitg]

Hi guys, I hope I am posting correctly. Newbie here. Also newbie to pool world and let me tell you- fun times.
Last week my husband and I have come to the conclusion that we have a water leak in our inground salt water pool.
Within 18 hours we will lose a couple inches of water, then I turned the pump off because the pump had no water barely left in it (where you would prime the pump). I hope this makes sense. Looks like water usually stops after first step into pool/ about 2” lower.
So we repeated this 3 times and are certain we have a leak bc of where it stops everytime. Mind you-We turn the pump off everytime at same spot bc don’t want to ruin the pump.
What do you suggest we do? My husband is adamant on doing this ourselves bc we gotta learn anyway so seeking advice. husband and I are not agreeing. He thinks we should buy a sealant and run through system and hope it fixes our issue. I’m all for getting the dye and crossing our fingers we find the leak in liner. Please help guide us. We’ve been in this house almost 3 years and have had nothing but issues, one after another - most recent having to purchase a new heater.
Thank you
Nat

 

[wireform]

Hi and welcome, we don't know the specifics about your pool or equipment which is important for us to work on your issue. See my signature below that's what we need of your pool. Click the signature link below to start...
Does your pool have a separate main drain piped directly to the equipment pad which should have its own valve or not. By turning off the pump as you say there isn't enough water thereby the water stops could possibly be a hint to where the problem is. Let us know if you have the main drin mentioned above. Do not put anything sealant of sorts because it doesn't work that way with pools.

 

[natwhitg]

Hi there thanks so much for your response. I’m sorry i don’t see where to find the signature link?
Our pool is about 10-12 years old. Our pool does have a separate main drain piped direct to equipment pad. I will not use the sealant thank you!

 

[natwhitg]

I found the signature and updated ! Had to search around. New to site lol

 

[wireform]

Now thay you know there's a main drain valve you can run the pump with only main drain open and close the skimmer valve. If the water level doesn't go down any further using the main drain then you can assume a skimmer leak but, should the water level continue that will rule out a skimmer line leak. Signature is good but I presume you meant to write liters instead of gallons.

 

[natwhitg]

Thank you for the help! I wanted to post an update. We turned the valve off to skimmer and ran pump and continued to lose water. We are sure we have a leak in a pipe. We are coming really close to end of season and are having a hard time getting someone to come and do a pressure test/ then fix the issue in time before scary winter starts here in Manitoba. Would it be ok to close the pool and deal with this issue in the spring? I am more worried closing the pool with existing issue, that it will create more problems when we open in May 2023. Just asking bc we may not have a choice and I’m losing sleep now.

Thank you,
Nat

 

[wireform]

Not a good idea to close a pool with a unknown leak. You surely don't want it to empty out over the winter as then you may incur other problems too.

 

[natwhitg]

What do you mean empty out over winter? We just may not have a choice

 

[wireform]

As you don't know where the leak is the pool can empty out over time and possibly need a new liner at that point. This needs attention asap.

 

[natwhitg]

As you don't know where the leak is the pool can empty out over time and possibly need a new liner at that point. This needs attention asap.

Oh I didn’t think of this, since we are only losing water when pump is on. Pump hasn’t been on for a long time now and water remains same.

 

[wireform]

You need minimum 18" of water in the shallow otherwise the liner can slip and at that point its done.