I live in the Denver area and we have an in-ground, vinyl swimming pool. Our vacuum suction was pretty weak, so I called a leak detection company to investigate. They did the pressure tests and informed me that there was a leak in the skimmer line close to the skimmer. The resolution they proposed is to dig up the deck 2feet by 2 feet 6 inches from the skimmer and fix the leak. The estimate is $1,800 not including what it will cost to have the pebble deck repaired. Matching it will be very very tough and I am hoping someone has another solution that doesn't involve tearing up the deck to fix the leak and any companies in the Denver area that do this type of work. I appreciate your feedback in advance.
Leak in Skimmer line
- Thread starter shall38
- Start date
Hi, welcome to TFP! Are they sure its the pipe and not the skimmer itself that is leaking? Is the only symptom weak vacuum suction or are you noticably loosing water volume?
Thank you...happy I found this forum. We had been losing water, which turned out to be a cut in the vinyl. Before I found the cut in the vinyl, I called the leak detection company to come out. Once I patched the vinyl, we stopped losing water. Our pool service guy suggested I still have the leak detection company come out because the suction was poor. They did the pressure test with gas and that is how he isolated the issue to the skimmer line. Not sure how he knows it is close to the skimmer, but that is what he told me. The pump runs 24x7 which could be why we are not seeing the water level drop. I am wondering if tearing up the deck is the only way to fix this problem or if there is a non-evasive option we could try before going to that expense.
I would hold off on tearing up the deck, and check a few other things first. I have a bunch of questions for you. Can you fill out the signature to tell us about your pool and the equipment you have? Do you have a current set of test results you can post? Does your pump have an air bubble at the top or is it completely full of water when it is on? What does the water currently look like and what type of filter do you have and has it been cleaned recently?
It’s a very common issue for the skimmer itself to leak. Rule that out first before tearing up the deck. If it was leaking, I’d imagine that some debris would be pulled in along with the water? Maybe the line is just blocked with something?
Not sure how many gallons the pool is, but other information is: 20x40 vinyl pool, 1 HP Hayward Pump, Pentair High Rate Sand Filter which replaced in July of 2018. Not sure how old the pool is. Not an unusual amount of debris after vacuuming. The results from the leak detection company were: Plumbing only- return line and main drain held pressure test. Leak marked on skimmer line under skimmer. Leak marked on vac line in pump room (replacing the fitting that is leaking next week). The recommendation was to dig down and replace the connection under the skimmer...$1800, not including patching the deck with pebble surface. The water in the pump does not completely fill the bubble when on, but reaches higher than the basket. The pool is salt water and stays very clean, even after the winter. Vacuuming on filter does not have great suction, but that improves when I switch to waste. It also drains the water so I add a few inches of water to the pool after vacuuming when on waste.