Leak repair advice

[Jenn590]

Another "fun" discovery while doing some renovations and having a hard time getting someone out to actually look at it/fix it so thought I'd ask in case there is a way to fix this that isn't terribly difficult.

I've done some digging and I was surprised to find this copper pipe as the apparent source...it's associated with one of the jets in the spa and only leaks when the pump is off. If the pump is turned off, water flows out, but when turned on, water gets sucked back in. I'm thinking this is possibly an old line from heater, so venturi effect keeps suction so it doesn't leak when pump is running but as soon as pump is off, pressure is greater in pool/spa, so water flows out. The same happens if I cover up the jet while the pump is running (see pics/video). There were several roots around it, a huge one underneath and then several smaller roots that were all wrapped around the area where it enters the concrete so I suspect that is the "root" cause for compromise of the pipe (or corrosion or something that was knocked loose when the pool was replastered).

The old gas heater has long since been disconnected from the pool system (and no plans to reinstall one) so I think all I need to do is find a good way to seal this off, but not sure how feasible that is with it sealed in the concrete outside of pool.

Any ideas? Or is this definitely a job for professionals? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Video of water flow with pump on and off: Before digging pump on and off.MOV
Video of exposed pipe with pump on: Copper pipe pump on.MOV

 

[Texas Splash]

I suspect that is the "root" cause

Ha ha! I can't get access to the videos you posted, and the pics are too small to see. But copper brazing is not too terribly difficult if you know the basics. There are also other methods to adapt from copper to PVC if that would help.

 

[Jenn590]

Couldn't resist a silly pun

Sorry pics weren't helpful but appreciate the response! It's a challenge to get a good picture but I did a little more digging to try to get slightly bigger working area and here's a simplified side view of what's happening, at least as I understand so far...please forgive my lack of drawing skills, clearly this drawing is NOT to scale but hopefully gets the idea across.
There's a small hole on the bottom of the copper pipe right where it enters the concrete of the wall of the pool. I can almost cover it with my finger but I have to dig out a little more to make sure covering stops the leaking.

The hole on the pipe is just so close to the concrete, it seems I'd have to chip out a little concrete to be able to repair the pipe properly (either by copper brazing or converting to PVC for a section). Am I asking for trouble by messing with any of the concrete? It should be just a small bit to remove but it makes me nervous that I'll cause some other problem.

 

[Texas Splash]

Let me tag one of our field experts @Poolbreh to get an opinion on access to that pipe just to see if we're missing anything other than the concrete wall (thickness) or repair to the pipe itself.

 

[Poolbreh]

Are you sure that’s copper? It could be to the brass conduit to your spa light. I’m not sure why they would run pvc and copper underground. If it’s brass it’s most likely to your spa or pool light and in that case you have a wire in it and the brass acts like a ground path in some older lights so it’s important to keep that ground path. Chipping the concrete is fine.

 

[Jenn590]

You all are amazing - thank you!
There isn't a light in the spa though so I'm pretty sure the copper is from the old heater/blower that has been disconnected for a long time. I'll still be super careful and keep power off around pool just in case when I do further investigation. Unless it's from an old light that was plastered over at some point, but that seems like a super weird choice...hmm, definitely will check.

I'll be honest, I'm still trying to figure out this overall spa plumbing--I can't quite make sense of the copper pipe since there is only PVC on the other end at my equipment pad. However, I know there were at least a couple of renovations in the past that involved moving plumbing, but sadly no details available, other than one of the repairs was done a local pool company, and one of the guys remembers working on it so knew where some of the old stuff was but not this part. Ah the joy of renovating/repairing old pools - ha!

I assumed I would find 2 PVC pipes, one air and one water but when I found copper, I thought it would have to be for the water (since it would have been heated water to the spa with the old heater)...but if it was, would expect water to leak there even with pump running. Either way, if a little chipping of the concrete is ok, I think I have a good path forward to fix the pipe and will see what else I find as I expand the hole a bit more to be able to do the repair.

Again, thank you so much for the help! I really appreciate it!

 

[Poolbreh]

Sorry overlooked original post, I think you are right about it being part of the air intake on the jets.