Possible Spa leak

Bubbasaenz

New member
Apr 30, 2024
4
San Antonio
Hello everyone! This is my first time posting, so I will try my best to be as thorough as possible and provide all the details needed for assistance.

I moved into my first house two weeks ago, and was excited about having a pool and learning all the ins and outs of maintaining the pool. To start off I have a pool company coming to clean and balance the chemicals in the pool until I have a full understanding of how everything works. When the pool company originally came out we noticed that the previous owner only had the return flowing through the skimmer, and the main drain in the pool was capped. They also had the return flowing only into the pool, and not the spa, so the spa was a little greener and wasn't recirculating water. The pool company cleaned and added chemicals (chlorine was at 0...) and had the spa return opened so the spa would spill over into the pool to recirculate the water (the main drain remained off at the suction side valve). The pool looked great, but then I started to notice the pool level had lowered by about 2-4 inches. I added water per direction of the pool company since pump and filter were not holding the proper pressure due to a low water level. The pool company came back to add calcium hardness, and set up the pump system how they said it should be set up to work properly. This was having the return coming through the pool and spa, and also have the skimmer and main drain open on the suction side. I did not turn on the pump as I wanted to see if any water was loss before running it again, and I closed off the spa return. In about a hour or so the spa dropped all the way below the jets. I then set the spa return open (pump still off) and water did start coming out slowly in the return and raised the level above the jets in about a hour. The level did not drop again, but today I turned the pump on, and the spa started to drop significantly, even with the return on. I could see a whirlpool in the middle, and started adding water from a hose, but it could not keep up with the water draining. I then realized it was draining faster from the main drain in the spa that the spa return pumps could add. I closed off the main drain at the pump suction side again, and the spa was able to rise again to where it would spill over in the pool.

I am pretty sure that means there is a leak in the spa, but I am not certain. For now I will keep the main drain closed at the suction side, and when I turn the pump off I will see if I notice any water loss in the spa or pool. I do not think the pool is losing water, rather it is the spa losing water and thus lowering the level in the pool as well. There is an obvious crack repair in the spa, but I do not think that is where it is leaking from since the level of the spa stops at the jets, and does not get any lower (with the main drain closed).

I hope I can get this identified before I pay the money to have a leak detection comapny come out. This has been pretty stressful as a new homeowner, but I am trying to stay positive that I still have a nice pool I get to use. I am hoping that as long as the main drain stays closed that the water levels can remain normal. Worst case scenario, if the leak is only in the spa I may drain the spa until I can save up to fix any leaks.

Thanks in advance for any help! and I look forward to being a part of this community!
 

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Hi and welcome. Sorry to meet under these circumstances but you are in the right place. I’m not sure why your spa might be draining- but am responding to your post so hopefully someone will see it soon and give you guidance.

A new pool is fun but can be stress at first while you learn how everything works. To start post several pics of your equipment pad so we can see what you are working with.

If you stick around to try the TFP method I have included some reading below
Pool Care Basics
Test Kits Compared
PoolMath
 
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B,

The valve in front of the pump needs to be in the Pool mode or the Spa mode. You have it in neither... The Intake valve must completely shut off the Spa pipe when in the Pool mode, and completely shut off the Pool pipe when in the Spa mode. One or the other, not halfway in between.

Let's see pics of your Return valve. The one that sends water back to the pool or spa.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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B,

The valve in front of the pump needs to be in the Pool mode or the Spa mode. You have it in neither... The Intake valve must completely shut off the Spa pipe when in the Pool mode, and completely shut off the Pool pipe when in the Spa mode. One or the other, not halfway in between.

Let's see pics of your Return valve. The one that sends water back to the pool or spa.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Thanks for this feedback! I was under the assumption that the intake pipe on the right was the main drain and the intake pipe on the left was the skimmer. I had no idea it was Pool or Spa intake to the pump, but if that is the case it must be the right piping of the intake is the spa, and the left piping of the intake is the pool. I have attached the return valve and that is how it is currently set up. I can get better pictures later on. I believe that the left piping of the return is the spa return, and the right piping of the return is the pool return which the Polaris pump is attached to as well.
 

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B,

The Return valve is currently set up to send most of the water to the Pool and a little water to the spa, to cause it to spillover into the pool. You have to use the spillover as that is the only way fresh water can ever get in the spa.

The Spa return line should have a check valve in it to prevent the spa from draining down when the pump is off.

Your main problem is with your Intake valve being set where it is.. Once that is fixed, if the spa continues to drain down, then your spa return check valve is bad or missing..

To use the Spa, you have to fully shut off the Pool side pipes on both the Intake and Return valves.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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B,

The Return valve is currently set up to send most of the water to the Pool and a little water to the spa, to cause it to spillover into the pool. You have to use the spillover as that is the only way fresh water can ever get in the spa.

The Spa return line should have a check valve in it to prevent the spa from draining down when the pump is off.

Your main problem is with your Intake valve being set where it is.. Once that is fixed, if the spa continues to drain down, then your spa return check valve is bad or missing..

To use the Spa, you have to fully shut off the Pool side pipes on both the Intake and Return valves.

Thanks,

Jim R.
To use the Spa, you have to fully shut off the Pool side pipes on both the Intake and Return valves.
Is this when the pump is on, off, or either? Just to mention, the spa currently has no added functionality (no jets, no heater) so it is basically just a mini pool until I eventually add some features.

Your main problem is with your Intake valve being set where it is.. Once that is fixed, if the spa continues to drain down, then your spa return check valve is bad or missing..
Would the intake valve being set up where neither spa or pool intake was closed cause the loss of water? I still do not understand how my pool ended up losing a few inches, but I am assuming it was due to the loss of water at the spa since I have not lost any water in my pool since I have closed the spa intake. As I mentioned, when I ran the pump with both intakes open, the spa was draining really fast, not sure where the water went?

Thanks for all the help! I am going to test shutting off the pool return and intake, and see if the spa maintains it's level. Currently I am running the pump with the spa intake closed off, and the return as I showed in the picture to allow for overspill into the pool. When I turn the pump off, and leave the valves as mentioned, the spa does drop in level, but only to about the first tile as seen in this picture.
 

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B,

When you off-set the Intake valve, then when the pump is running, it will suck water out of the spa.. that is why it quickly drains down with the pump on..

Even without a heater, when you put the valve in the "Spa mode" all the water will be sucked from the spa and returned to the spa. This should give you some 'jet' action at the returns in the spa.. It will never be like a real spa.

I suspect that on your spa return pipe, there is a bad check valve buried in the ground... :(

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thanks again Jim for all the information. I have been running my pump everyday with the configuration you can see in the pictures. Spa intake closed, and the spa return partially open to allow for overflow into the pool. With this being ran, you can see the pool level is now below the first tile (started above first tile), and the spa continues to get low as well. When I was running the pump with the spa returned closed I do not believe I was having this issue, so I suspect a leak in the spa, or as you mentioned a bad check valve on the spa return, which would that cause loss of water?
 

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B,

When the check valve is bad, the water just "leaks" back into the pool because of gravity.. The pool water would normally go up slightly..

It sounds like you have an actually leak from the spa and into the ground somewhere.. any wet spots?? :(

I'd run the test again, with no spa overflow and confirm the pool and spa stay full..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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