Leak problem. Think you can solve it?

[tripflex]

Alright, so after purchasing a bank owned house, spending $500 to have a company drain the pool and fill it back up. I have now found out that i also have a leak somehow. So again, my pool is now becoming green because the water level has gone below the skimmer.

Here are some measurements i took:
10/21 - 1 3/4" from top of pool
10/22 - 4" from top of pool
10/23 - 4 1/2" from top of pool


The pool drained the most the first day when i filled it all the way up. After that it seemed like it might be normal evaporation, but i'm not too sure. It seems im losing about 1/4" a day, which since i live in Florida, i'm on a lake, and do not have a screened enclosure.

It's an in-ground pool on the lake. It's 3 feet deep in the shallow end and 8ft in the deep end.

I tried using food coloring around each jet, and the pool light to see if i could see the coloring draining, but couldn't find anything. So now it makes me wonder if it might be in the tiles.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks!!

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

I assume you have a cartridge filter, since there is a cartridge on the deck in one of the pictures, so there's no waste line. Does the pool have a main drain or a light?

Your water levels kind of look like a leak at the skimmer or in the plumbing. Did the water stop dropping when it got to the bottom of the skimmer opening?

 

[geekgranny]

I had a "mysterious" leak, in 2007, that two pool guys couldn't find. I had already done the dye tests all over the pool, concentrating around the light, that was still in place. It was leaking at about [EDIT] 1 gallon per second [end edit]. It was costing me hundreds of $ to keep filled.

One guy had me do a test where I let the water go down as far as it would go. It went down below the returns and kept going rapidly. It stopped at about three inches above the bottom rim of the light. BUT :? I had done the dye test around that many times. A retired pool guy told me he doubted it could be anything other than where the light cord goes through the wall AND it was an extremely easy and cheap fix.

As soon as I took the light out of the bucket and put some dye there it was quite obvious that he was right. The dye disappears instantly.

Moral.... Obviously the light fixture, in place, was interfering with the test. I procrastinated so long that the money spent on replacement water would have paid for a new variable speed pump and new bigger filter. :shock;

Before letting the water go down way far, if it is not around the skimmer, you should take light(s) out of socket to do the dye test.

Hope this helps. :-D

gg=alice

 

[lborne]

1/4" a day for a pool in Florida and no screen seems just about right - depending on the sun and wind. Being on a lake like you are allows for more wind evaporation. My pool is loosing just a bit less than that, but it has a screen. Do the bucket test to verify.

The fact that the leak slowed or stopped after 4.5" is a good clue. Except that it sounds like you shut your pump off for good when the level went below the skimmer. So the leak could be related to the skimmer, or in the drain or return line plumbing. But you can't know for sure unless you can isolate the skimmer (plug it, turn off a valve) and suck just from the main drain. You should do this to keep your pool clean, but also to see if the water level drops dramatically. If so, then you've got a leak in the lines somewhere. If not, then your leak is above the 4.5" level. Am I making sense?

 

[spishex]

It certainly sounds like something on the pressure side since you lost water until the point the pump wasn't able to stay primed. If you don't have a waste line, as described above, then you're likely looking at a leaking return line.

 

[geekgranny]

Here are some measurements i took:
10/21 - 1 3/4" from top of pool
10/22 - 4" from top of pool
10/23 - 4 1/2" from top of pool

Thanks!!

I think I may have misunderstood or something. :? Did it stop or slow down at some point?

Bucket test sounds good. In summer, even with sun on pool only half a day, with our blazing Texas sun and extreme heat, and 20-30 mph "breezes", and doggie splash out, I have to top up over an inch a day but now, even with wind and far less heat and sun, and doggie splash out lessened (but still a little) it is about 1/2 to 1/4 a day.

I think my climate is close to yours but with a little less humidity.

gg=alice

 

[anonapersona]

You can mess around with it, or you can call American Leak Detection and they will find it. They may be able to repair it, depending on what it is.

I suggest you keep the bleach up to try to keep the algae at bay. Got a recirculation pump of any sort?