Possible Leak?

[carlydoehler]

Hello,
This may be a long shot, but I’m wondering if anyone can help walk me through a way to determine if my indoor pool is leaking.

I live in Colorado. It gets down to 20 or lower at night right now. Air is cold and very, very dry.

I have a 16x32 indoor pool that is covered with a bubble cover for all but 30 minutes in the evening. Building is spray-foamed so it’s always between 60 and 70 degrees all day without a furnace.

Water is 85 degrees. Variable pump. Chlorinated.

In the last 24 hours, the covered pool has lost 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of water. I have called around to different service companies but it’s the low season and I’m finding it difficult to get a response.

Is the “bucket test” reliable? Is water loss of 1/4-1/2 an inch normal for this time of year? It just seems like a LOT.

Thank you,
Carly

 

[mknauss]

Is this pool new? Have you had this loss for awhile or just start?

A bucket test will work. Try it.

 

[carlydoehler]

It’s an older pool/plumbing set up itself with new equipment (pump, filter, heater, UV filter, ozonater). Liner is maybe 4 years old.

This may be a dumb question, but do I float some plastic on the surface of the water in the bucket to mimic a cover?

The amount of water being lost is new, or at least I’m just now noticing it. My husband agrees. It’s also very cold and extremely dry where I am in CO right now. Not sure what to think. The structure has two 10ft garage doors and one 16 footer. Three garage doors make up a majority of 2 sides of the room, so it’s very possible that a good amount of air comes in.

 

[mknauss]

You would have to leave the cover off the pool for the test.

I actually think it is evaporation. I suspect you have pretty significant air exchange in the room, correct? High elevation cold air is very dry. I have lived in both Colorado and Wyoming. With very low dew points you could easily get evaporation rates that are quite high with your warm water. And the cover you are using I doubt is well sealed to the edges of the pool.

 

[carlydoehler]

Correct, we do our best but the cover can shift. Thanks for the peace of mind.