Leak?

[jshaley]

Hello,

I have a 27' above ground salt pool which has been in place for about 7 years now. Plumbing is all above-ground exterior, no bottom drains. Over the winter I lost my center float and I think the weight of snow (I live in the northeast) and ice weight pushed out a lot of water - it was the lowest we've had. Or, could have a leak.

So we opened last weekend and I started filling. I have some standing water in the gravel around one side of the pool. It was the side I walked around with the hose running so it has some splash, and we had some rain, but I still have standing water in this one location. We stopped filling prior to getting to skimmer level thinking we may have a leak.

I tested the puddle for chlorine but at this point, the only chemicals added this season are shock. So the readings for puddle and pool show almost no chlorine. May try to raise chlorine in the pool by missing in liquid chlorine and testing puddle again. Also these are test strips, I will dig out my test kit for the season to get more exact readings

I have a "bucket test" set up on the ladder (this site has great info!) and Sun PM to Wed AM am seeing maybe a half-inch difference. Seems small but hey, it is a 27' pool.

The pool company we work with is suggesting adding more water to get the filter running, marking the water level, and watching it for at least a week. This sounds like good advice but I am checking in here as well.

Standing water is close to the ladder, so will check the liner closely for tears from removing the ladder. Our soil is clay and we have a high water table. I believe one side of the ground around my pool is higher than where the ladder is, but the area around the filter is on this low side too and shows no water (no water in plumbing yet).

Any thoughts are welcome. One question would be how long do liners usually last?

John

 

[splashpad]

Hello! Great job troubleshooting, that is a good use for test strips (puddle jumping, lol)

... We stopped filling prior to getting to skimmer level thinking we may have a leak.

I tested the puddle for chlorine but at this point, the only chemicals added this season are shock. So the readings for puddle and pool show almost no chlorine. May try to raise chlorine in the pool by missing in liquid chlorine and testing puddle again. Also these are test strips, I will dig out my test kit for the season to get more exact readings

If it was hose splash out, the puddle could show minute chlorine amounts (if treated water)

I have a "bucket test" set up on the ladder (this site has great info!) and Sun PM to Wed AM am seeing maybe a half-inch difference. Seems small but hey, it is a 27' pool.

The pool company we work with is suggesting adding more water to get the filter running, marking the water level, and watching it for at least a week. This sounds like good advice but I am checking in here as well.

The low-loss could be evaporation if it's been hot/dry there. I so far agree to go ahead and try to fill the pool after (see below)

Standing water is close to the ladder, so will check the liner closely for tears from removing the ladder. Our soil is clay and we have a high water table. I believe one side of the ground around my pool is higher than where the ladder is, but the area around the filter is on this low side too and shows no water (no water in plumbing yet).

Definitely check the liner in any places that could have "pressure" damage

Any thoughts are welcome. One question would be how long do liners usually last?

Depending on the PH levels maintained, UV exposure, thickness of liner, etc most vinyl liners have life expectancies from 3yrs (budget) - 30yrs (quality/branded)