Spring water loss.

[palmettomoves]

I'd appreciate any thoughts forum members might have on what the cause of this might be.

I kept my in-ground vinyl pool uncovered and maintained through this past mild South Carolina winter. The vinyl is not new (8 years old) and I have had to patch it a few times to seal holes/leaks so I was happy it made it through the winter without any leaks. Aside from expected evaporation the pool held the water all winter. Two or three weeks ago when the temperature reached the mid 70's all of a sudden there was a dramatic water loss. I've lost about 30% of the water in the pool. It's far too much for evaporation, so it may be a leak but I'm curious if some seasonal change might be causing it. It freezes here at times but not enough to have frozen ground/watertable like in the northeast. The water is just below the return jets and has held steady where it is for the last couple of weeks. Any thoughts?

 

[Texas Splash]

I'm curious if some seasonal change might be causing it.

The weather may have been a contributor, but I suspect the age of your pool (liner, seals, etc) may also be a cause. Most of our pool items have a somewhat limited service life. Rubber seals get hard/crack, silicone seals deteriorate, plastic loses its elasticity, so any number of things could have happened. Now if the waterline stopped dropping at the return jets, it may not be the liner, but instead could be where those jets are connected. Not sure its worth investing much time on those areas if you already know you're on borrowed time with the liner as a whole, but it sounds as if your new leak is somewhere around that new waterline.

 

[palmettomoves]

The weather may have been a contributor, but I suspect the age of your pool (liner, seals, etc) may also be a cause. Most of our pool items have a somewhat limited service life. Rubber seals get hard/crack, silicone seals deteriorate, plastic loses its elasticity, so any number of things could have happened. Now if the waterline stopped dropping at the return jets, it may not be the liner, but instead could be where those jets are connected. Not sure its worth investing much time on those areas if you already know you're on borrowed time with the liner as a whole, but it sounds as if your new leak is somewhere around that new waterline.

Thanks Texas Splash. I appreciate the input. Unfortunately, I suspect you're right, the liner is just deteriorating in general and I'm grasping at straws!