Hey all, I assume I'm going to have to bring in a professional, but I'm wondering if this awesome community can help me out with identifying a leak. It's an in-ground gunite pool with attached spa. Here's what I know so far:
What are the odds that I have 2 separate pipes or drain covers break at essentially the same time? The leak started happening right around the same time that I got a new Dolphin robot (had a The Pool Cleaner previously). I did run it in the spa once. Maybe it damaged drain cover attachments in both my pool and spa? Does that happen? We did not have any water leaks prior to this. However, we did have an issue with some air entering the system when the pump switched off. It would have to prime for maybe 3-5 seconds pushing a bit of air out before switching to the set speed. It rarely has any issues if the main drain or spa drain were engaged though, and does not encounter any as long as it is kept running.
- Definitely a leak. I did the bucket test. The bucket dropped about 1/16", while the pool dropped 1"+. The water level goes down about 1" / day.
- Not in the return jets, vacuum line, or skimmer- the water keeps going down when it's well below them.
- Doesn't appear to be in the light fixture - did a dye test and didn't see any significant "suckage".
- Water line continues to drop at about the same rate even with the pool equipment off.
- May be a problem with the main drain - identified by the dye test. Dye did not leave trails getting sucked in, but did not disperse upward normally. (FWIW, I used food coloring if that matters).
- No damp spots in the ground. Though I do live in FL with sandy soil, so I imagine the water just seeps downward quickly.
- The spa water level is also going down at about the same rate.
- The dye test seems to imply that water is leaking through its bottom drain as well (similar dispersal patterns).
- The main drain and the spa drain do not combine until just before the pump, above ground, and there is no sign of water in that location.
What are the odds that I have 2 separate pipes or drain covers break at essentially the same time? The leak started happening right around the same time that I got a new Dolphin robot (had a The Pool Cleaner previously). I did run it in the spa once. Maybe it damaged drain cover attachments in both my pool and spa? Does that happen? We did not have any water leaks prior to this. However, we did have an issue with some air entering the system when the pump switched off. It would have to prime for maybe 3-5 seconds pushing a bit of air out before switching to the set speed. It rarely has any issues if the main drain or spa drain were engaged though, and does not encounter any as long as it is kept running.
