Possible leak?

[shiyang100]

After owing pool for over a year, first time feel I might need to deal with pool leak, which was one of the key concerns when I bought this house.

did bucket test a couple times. Water in bucket barely move after 12-24 hours, but pool water level dropped 1/16in to 1/8in. Called my PB, he didn't want to bother. He said at this level, it is hard to find the leak. Just let it as it is or wait it is getting worse. Should I call another pool company. I also heard American leak detection. Is that place good at pool leak detection?

thanks. Started to lose sleep over this.

 

[pooldv]

1/8"-1/4" loss ler day is normal evaporation. Let the bucket test go for several days or more to confirm. More here on tracking down leaks, Pool School - Leak Detection

 

[shiyang100]

I understand this. But I have the concern because water in bucket barely moved.

 

[shiyang100]

I also asked the question here about the imbalance between two skimmers. One is picking up 80% of leaves and the other picks up the rest. Is there any connection here. I do not have air under pump lid. Can this rule out suction side leakage?

 

[pooldv]

Skimmer imbalance is normal based on distance to the pump, wind, water circulation, etc. Mine is the same. Suction leaks put air into the pump basket and sometimes leak when the pump is off, sometimes not. No air in the pump eliminates suction side leaks.

 

[shiyang100]

Thanks Pooldv. So what should I do next? If we can rule out the suction side, should I do bucket test comparison with pump on vs off.

Also do you agree what my PB said? He asked not to waste time and money now on a minor leak. He suggested it is very difficult if not completely impossible to find out such a small leak and I should wait until it gets worse. I am about to call around pool service companies next week.

 

[pooldv]

I would do a bucket test for 4 or 5 days. Yes, I agree that it is difficult, if not impossible, to track down an 1/8" per day leak. Also, not worth the time, effort and money it would take if you could track it down.

 

[shiyang100]

Here is the bucket test result. My feeling is bucket test is not that accurate. It shows more loss overnight in pool than the bucket, but less in pool than bucket during the daytime. I also turned off the pump overnight. So if there is a leak, it is more like on suction side. But meanwhile, I do not have air bubbles under pump lid. My PB looked at the numbers and said bucket test is not that accurate, and if there is a leakage, it will leak more than 1/4 in a day even for a tiny pinhole on the vinyl. hmm.....

Date	Time	Pool level	Bucket level	Pump
24-Jun	8pm	0	0	Off
25-Jun	7am	0.0625	<0.0625	Off
25-Jun	7pm	0.125	0.125	On
Light rain overnight
26-Jun	7am	>0.125	0.125	off