Pool lost 6" of water after closing for winter

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J

jdtessi

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May 13, 2014
7
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
I closed my IG pool and checked after a month (yesterday) on the water level. It is now 20" below the deck surface. I have a safety cover for winter and left it at 14" below deck surface when closing. It has been raining here non stop for most of that time and I'm not sure if the leak has stopped yet.

This happened 3 years ago in the fall and I just dropped the safety cover down so it would sit on the water as much as possible. Following summer, I had a diver in to patch some leaks on the vinyl liner.

This dramatic drop in water level did not happen again until this year.

Over this summer, I did some water bucket test on my pool to check for leaks. I calculated 1/4" - 3/8" with pump on or off. I figured I was in the norm.

I'm in Canada and it is very cold here already. So my questions is what should I do to protect my liner and cover at this point.

Thank you!
 
I would try to resolve the issue as you do not want the pool to be emptied as over time there could be a potential for damage. Or you can allow the pool to drain down, and when it stops, you know where your potential leaks are. If you have galvanized steel walls and there is chlorine in the pool (or not), there is a high probability of staining on the walls if you have a tear in the liner. At least this will cover 3'. Anything below this is a "waiting game". How old is the liner? Is it at the end? Maybe some of the patches that were installed are not holding up as anything is possible.

So my questions is what should I do to protect my liner and cover at this point.
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The only thing I can think of is that if you have a rectangular pool and your leak is not too deep, that you can purchase a very large (very large tarp) and fill the top up until the spring. It could act like a shell, but you would need to see where the leak stops. If it is at the main drain or pretty low, then the tarp would not work. Thanks!
 
Thank you for your response. I waited a couple of days to see if the leaks stopped and it appears to have stopped at the top of the return's flange. I am pretty sure that is where it stopped when this happened a couple of years ago.

The liner is around 8 years old. I have loosened the safety cover straps and dropped it down so it is close to the water level. There is 20" of water in the shallow end.

Over the last few years, I have gone through this endless cycle of bucket/dye/pressure testing. I am still baffled as to why this pool rapidly leaked after it was closed.

The diver mentioned sometimes the small holes in the liner would leak more when the liner is clean. The leak will sometimes lift the liner in that spot and then the leak can really intensify. If this was the case then why would it not continue to leak right down. I should mention there is no main drain in the pool. The returns flanges were dye checked for leaks by the diver and myself several times. They were also pressure tested. As well, the liner at that water level was checked.

All signs seem to point to the returns or the liner at that water level now but as I said I think I did my due diligence but maybe I’m missing something.

Is it possible the returns shifted after the pool was closed when they are not under pump pressure ?

I just can’t help but think this dramatic leaking is some how related to the water level of the pool because it does not do this during the summer. Any ideas would be welcomed.
 
jdtessi said:
Sorry, a section of what?
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Where the water stopped? I would assume that if your cover is on, that you can not take a picture of the pool, and will have to peel back part of the cover to take a picture of a small section. I am curious to know if your leak is near the gaskets of the returns or above? If so, maybe it is just a gasket. You could use a tarp over the water, but would require a large tarp, etc. My cover is so large for my pool (30*50), that in my 17*33 pool, I could literally still cover the pool and if I had a similar leak.
 
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