Pool leak from skimmer?

[bcinsd]

Hi. I have a 15000 gal in ground salt water pool. I recently noticed that the salt level was falling. I turned off the auto fill and the salt level stabilized and I noticed that the water level fell several inches over a few weeks. Once the water level was nearly down to the bottom of the skimmer inlet, it stopped falling further. The skimmer still has water in it and appears to be functional, as the water level is about 1/2 inch above the bottom of the inlet. I also noticed the silver travertine surrounding the skimmer looks a little darker than the rest of the deck. Putting all this together, I'm thinking there is likely a leak coming from the skimmer between the height of the normal pool water level and the height it is presently at. Upon inspecting the skimmer visually. I do not see any obvious cracks.

I'm not sure if my analysis of the situation is correct but I'd rather not pay for leak detection service if the source of the leak is obvious. Any thoughts on how to proceed at this point?

 

[Jimrahbe]

BC,

Skimmers can leak around the tile line in the skimmer's mouth or they can be cracked.. they can also leak where the plumbing connects underneath. Then just to make things worse, the plumbing can be leaking underground, making you think the skimmer is leaking, because that is where the pump is getting its water.

If you have a main drain, and your pump will run well when using just the main drain, a good test is to plug the suction line inside the bottom of the skimmer and see if your leak stops or not.

This assumes that your main drain is plumbed back to your equipment pad and that you have the ability to turn you Main Drain and Skimmer on or off with valves.

Thanks,

Jim R.