Just filled pool and leaking

[MAPR-Austin]

OK, I misunderstood what you meant by sump line. So their solution to the leak is to set up a fill line that runs for a couple hours every night?

Might be time to have a leak location service come out, at least to figure out where the water is going.

 

[kbradford]

OK, I misunderstood what you meant by sump line. So their solution to the leak is to set up a fill line that runs for a couple hours every night?

Might be time to have a leak location service come out, at least to figure out where the water is going.

They say the sump is because we have a high water table combined with a deep pool.

No water loss overnight with the sump off, so somehow it was draining water instead of refilling it.

 

[Bluedart]

Do u have a hydrostatic valve in main drain?

if it is not operating correctly (sealing when pool equalizes with water table) your pool could lose water through valve as water table varies by The sumps operation

are Homes near you on well water or have sprinkler systems from wells?

if pool is full I don’t know why the builder is running sump. The pool should be in balance or higher then water table.

 

[tommelton]

A sump for a high water table is supposed to pull water from behind the shell and dispose of it. If you lose water when the sump is running, you have a leak that is lessened when you have water pressure on the OUTSIDE of the shell. A sump does not refill your pool.

 

[kbradford]

Yes, we have a hydrostatic valve. This was replaced with a heavier duty one as they believe it was the cause of the leak and it has fixed (or atleast improved) the leak. No wells around us.

This sump is indeed set to refill our pool. It is hooked directly to our pool filter.

 

[Bluedart]

so the builder set it up to pull water from the well (sump) to fill and top off your pool Using your filter motor?
does the well (sump) have a shut off by the pump?

the well shut off valve could be leaking down into the well.

it does seem like your problem of losing Water from the pool is tied to the water table and the two access points from pool to well should be the hydrostatic valve and the shut off by the pool filter (if one is there).

if the Builder set up a separate fill from the well look to see if the pool water could be siphoning into well when well pump is off .

 

[Bluedart]

As a further test the builder can cap off the hydrostatic valve since the pool is full. this is only temporary since you do want a working valve for when you have to lower or drain pool water

 

[kbradford]

We don't have a well, sorry if that was confusing. The sump pulls water from under the pool, that's all.

They already plugged the valve, and that reduced or stopped the leak so they replaced with the new hydrostat. They are 99% sure the leak is fixed with that, but the sump was still running on a scheduled and caused problems for some reason they still don't understand.

To confirm the leak is 100% fixed they are waiting on some 8" plugs for our Riverflow system, as they believe if there is still a tiny leak it'd be in that area. We're losing around 1/4" water a day now, and they say it could be evaporation but they want to confirm by plugging the Riverflow. But those plugs are not here yet... hopefully soon!

 

[Bluedart]

guess I interchange well and sump. When they built my pool in high water table area (6 feet down or less) they drilled a well and ran it for a month to lower table to pour concrete. The well is still there connected to pool drain at bottom of pool with hydrostatic valve. I still use well to fill pool but the water is dry hard and some minerals. When the pool is full it is dormant.

why is your sump running at all after the pool is full? Are they just trying to keep water away from pool shell?

 

[Time2Relax]

1/4" a day is not normal. That's almost 2" a week. You have a leak. Hard to see your skimmer throat because of the black grout (which is incredibly sloppy, I'd suspect the builder just because he allowed this mess. Check that out carefully. The next step is to pressure test the plumbing, and if that is ok, let the pool set because it will be a structural leak of the shell. I used to have a company that specialized in finding pool leaks, it ain't that hard, just common sense. Sounds like your builder is BSing you though, I'd call in a leak specialist just to be sure...and have the builder pay for it....

 

[duraleigh]

1/4" a day is not normal..

Actually, at TFP, we attribute 1/4: daily loss as normal......more in the arid parts of the country.
That doesn't prove you DON'T have a leak but I would not chase it.

 

[kbradford]

1/4" a day is not normal. That's almost 2" a week. You have a leak. Hard to see your skimmer throat because of the black grout (which is incredibly sloppy, I'd suspect the builder just because he allowed this mess. Check that out carefully. The next step is to pressure test the plumbing, and if that is ok, let the pool set because it will be a structural leak of the shell. I used to have a company that specialized in finding pool leaks, it ain't that hard, just common sense. Sounds like your builder is BSing you though, I'd call in a leak specialist just to be sure...and have the builder pay for it....

Everything I’ve read says 1/4” a day is normal for evaporation. No cover yet, and warm 90+ days lately.

The builder is sloppy no doubt, but does have a leak specialist who is working with us. He’s been out several times a week, and has pressured tested everything except the Riverflow system. Those pipes are huge and they are waiting for the equipment to test those.

 

[Time2Relax]

The builder is sloppy no doubt, but does have a leak specialist who is working with us. He’s been out several times a week, and has pressured tested everything except the Riverflow system. Those pipes are huge and they are waiting for the equipment to test those.

See, right there is a problem. when I owned a leak detection company, it would take about 2-3 hours to do a complete detection procedure. Why is this guy coming back out 'several times a week' ?

 

[SoDel]

Noticed unusual water loss upon opening this season and this is how it went:
1. Isolate spa from pool and let it sit overnight. No water loss from spa, loss continued from pool.
2. Plug skimmer suction lines in skimmer. Water loss continued.
3. Plug all returns. Water loss continued.
4. Let water loss go to see if it went below skimmer inlet boxes. It did.
5. Called leak detection experts. They carefully tested absolutely everything in a couple of hours and found hydrostatic relief valve in main drain bowl was the only culprit. Cleared debris from valve seat and no more leak.

My takeaway — unless it’s something obvious, calling in the leak experts to test everything was money well spent. They’re not superhumans and no magical powers but possess a boatload of equipment and experience to just find the darn leak pronto. Your PB’s trial and error approach over time doesn’t seem to be cutting it.