My wife and I purchased our house in the fall of 2016, and inherited a gunite pool built in 2007, just outside of Boston MA. The pool is approximately 26,000 gallons and has a Jandy SWG, and a PCC-2000 floor system with 2 Sta-Rite pumps (1 with a skimmer, floor drain, filter, and heater, and the other with a skimmer driving 9 zones in the floor system). Through the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and up until the first week of August of the 2019 season, we have only had to add water maybe 1 time after an extended period of no rain - otherwise the water level stays pretty constant (we lose a small amount to evaporation as expected, but that is generally offset by rain). Suddenly last Friday, my wife noticed that the pool water level was a little low in the morning (around 8:00), and made a note to add water before an upcoming pool party that weekend (she is out looking at the pool multiple times a day when she lets the dogs out, and she always checks for wayward animals IN the pool and tries to save them, so she observes the water level regularly). At this time, the water level had dropped from the typical location in the center of the tile band, to near the bottom of the skimmers. She happened to be working from home that day, and let the dogs out a couple hours later, and noticed the water was MUCH lower. This time, the water level was completely below the skimmers as well as the top step. I came home from work after hearing this news and assumed I'd find a very obvious indication where this much water had gone. There was NOTHING. I couldn't find any dampness anywhere. I pulled out 2 hoses, and started refilling the pool. After some trial and error (and refilling the pool multiple days in a row), I seemed to have narrowed the problem down to the line running from the filter pump back to the 5 return jets in the side of the pool. For the past few days I left those 5 fittings plugged with the rubber winterizing plugs, and the Jandy valve at the outlet of the heater set to direct all water to the 2 fixed floor jets which direct debris into the floor drain (the only part of the floor system which is run by the filter pump and not the dedicated floor system pump). For 3 days I ran the pool this way and had minimal water loss. I then proceeded to dig up the part of the return line that runs under grass, and didn't find any real dampness, so I surmised that the leak must be under the concrete pool deck. I pulled all the plugs out and returned everything to "normal" and ran the filter pump all day while we used the pool and checked periodically for evidence of water leaking. It's not been 12 hours, and I don't see any drop in the water level at all. There were LOTS of bubbles from each outlet when I removed the plugs, and the water level has always been higher than this return line, so I feel that's a strong indication that all of the water that had been in that line leaked out over the past few days.
Any ideas? After multiple days with little to no water loss, I was pretty confident that the leak was in that return line I had plugged, but why wouldn't the water loss start back up again now that I've taken the plugs out?
Thanks,
-Chris
- There is no evidence of water leaking into the grass anywhere around the pool
- The pump area is slightly downhill of the pool, and everything in that are is bone-dry
- I have a security camera pointing at the pool, and it is pretty unlikely that anyone could be stealing the water, plus we've been home and watching the pool on a couple of the days with significant water loss
Any ideas? After multiple days with little to no water loss, I was pretty confident that the leak was in that return line I had plugged, but why wouldn't the water loss start back up again now that I've taken the plugs out?
Thanks,
-Chris
