My water level has been lowering from 1/2 - 1" a day and the water stops lowering at the bottom of the skimmer where it's had leaks/repairs in years past. I leave the pump off for 1-2 days and wait until the water stops getting lower to know where the leak is. I removed all the old putty from the skimmer edges and replaced with new putty (JB Weld) and it's still leaking but maybe slower than before. In the many times I've performed this repair I've never been able to "see" a leak using dye in very still water, but eventually my putty repair works. My solution has always been to just add more putty and smash it to the walls and corners as good as I can and try to make it look nice in the process. Is this what everyone else does? I'm getting tired of this and wonder if there is a better solution. Any advice?
Leak at skimmer basket
- Thread starter BB_Sacramento
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,499
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Check the bottom of the skimmer, you may have small cracks around the return pipe or if there is an accessory hole flap, there could be a crack under that area. This is where I found my leak.
I have attached photos of the skimmer from the top and side views. The putty on the sides of the skimmer is fresh but it's still leaking. Regarding bottom of the skimmer reply from skimmerswimmer, would that be the 2 holes in my top view picture? If there was a leak there wouldn't the water level be lower than it is? The water level stops going down where it is now which is about 1/2" above the tile going into the skimmer area. I don't see any seams or cracks anywhere above the water level now except for the 2 sides with the putty. I added a 3rd picture where I tried to show the water level in case it's hard for you to see. If the leak was below that level wouldn't the water go down to where the leak is? I don't see any seams or cracks above the water level.
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Make sure you putty the bottom edge of the skimmer mouth, even if it doesn't look that bad.
It's tough to say regarding the water level. You would think that the water level would stop at the level of the leak, but in my case that wasn't true, though I did epoxy around the skimmer mouth like you did as well. I think when my pump is on, the crack around the bottom hole may have expanded or leaked more due to the water flow and added pressure. When the water is not flowing, there may be less water loss since the skimmer housing isn't being stressed. The other thing is, if you were losing an inch per day around the skimmer, the area under and around the skimmer could be water saturated, which would push back up against the water trying to leak out. I would turn the pump on and empty the skimmer entirely, then try to get a better picture at the bottom area, maybe run a fingernail around the bottom and see if you can detect any cracking.
It's tough to say regarding the water level. You would think that the water level would stop at the level of the leak, but in my case that wasn't true, though I did epoxy around the skimmer mouth like you did as well. I think when my pump is on, the crack around the bottom hole may have expanded or leaked more due to the water flow and added pressure. When the water is not flowing, there may be less water loss since the skimmer housing isn't being stressed. The other thing is, if you were losing an inch per day around the skimmer, the area under and around the skimmer could be water saturated, which would push back up against the water trying to leak out. I would turn the pump on and empty the skimmer entirely, then try to get a better picture at the bottom area, maybe run a fingernail around the bottom and see if you can detect any cracking.
Update: My pool leak stopped after adding a little putty to the bottom portion of the skimmer mouth opening. What a relief! Thanks for the help.