"I'm having to add water to my swimming pool every week. Do I have a leak?" Depending on the climate near your home, it is not unusual to be losing a 1/4" of pool water a day due to evaporation. This means almost 2" a week! The greatest factors affecting this are humidity, wind, and air and water temperature.
To find out if you really have a leak inside your swimming pool, fill a bucket with water from the pool and set it on the steps of your pool with the the surface of the bucket above water level. This will keep the water in the bucket exactly the same temperature as the pool. If you do not have steps, you can look at evening out the bucket on the top ladder tread. At this point, compare the water loss between your bucket and your pool over a period of a few days, the more, better. We are assuming that your bucket does not have a hole in it! If you notice a big difference, you've got a leak!
Now let's realize that leak! Fill the pool to its normal level and measure the level. A piece of duct tape is fantastic for this. Next together with your filter system running the whole time, wait 12 to twenty four hours and appraise the lack of water. Then refill the pool back to the same level along with the filter system off, wait exactly the same period of time (also over the same area of the day, ie. 8 AM to 8 AM or 7 PM to 7 AM) and measure the water loss.
If you're losing more water using the filter system running, the leak is around the pressure side of your plumbing somewhere PAST the impeller of the pump. If you are losing less water with the filter system not running, the leak is on the vacuum side of your plumbing somewhere BEFORE the impeller of the pump. Please note that in this case, most of the time the pool only loses water when the system is off and never when it's on. If the water loss is identical, then your leak is incorporated in the structure of the pool and not in the plumbing.
Let's deal with a leak in the plumbing first. We are going to believe that there is not an obvious leak (one that you can see) on the filter system. Did you check where your backwash line comes out? There are two methods to find this leak. First, you can pressure test the lines, then dig, following the leaking line till you find it. You can also call in the local leak detection service. We'd highly recommend the latter, unless you like to dig. Professionals will use "geophones" to listen for the leak and just dig where necessary!
Now lets look at a leak in the structure of a concrete pool. You will need some food coloring for this, and you'll want to switch off the pump at least an hour before you do this. In a concrete pool, any cracks in the shell are usually obvious. By squeezing out the food coloring near the crack, you will see the crack pull the food coloring in. That will show you where the pool is leaking. Yes, you may have to get in the pool to do this, but isn't that why you got the pool in the first place? If there are no visible cracks, you will want to squeeze out the food coloring around any of the items that pierce the shell of the pool (main drain, returns, lights, etc.). Make sure to check the "mouth" of the skimmer where the plastic of the skimmer meets the concrete. This area is very susceptible to movement and quite often separates creating a leak.
Once the leak is found, it is easy to fix using a patching material. Most of them works under water. After patching, check again with your food coloring to make sure you plugged the leak. Please note that if you patch near a fitting, you will want to leave the pump off while it cures, so the flow of water doesn't wash the patch away.
What if you have a vinyl pool with a leak? A leak can be a little harder to find and fix in a vinyl pool, but it's not impossible. We would propose that you first check around all the items that pierce the liner (main drain, returns, lights, etc.). If you find that the liner has pulled away or perhaps is leaking behind a fitting, we would Highly recommend that you simply call in your local pool professional at this point. If you mess this repair up you could be easily looking at a new liner!
If you don't detect a leak around the fittings, you will need to search the liner itself. A lot of vinyl liners have a pattern on the walls or bottom which can make it difficult to see a hole. Sometimes by running your hand over the floor and walls you may feel a tear or puncture that's not easily visible. If you have a friend who is a diver, he or she can do the job a lot easier with a tank than you can by holding your breath. Note: only certified divers ought to be using diving gear, even in a pool. Sometimes there is a depression on to the floor which might indicate erosion brought on by the flow of water. After finding the leak it's an easy matter to patch, utilizing a vinyl patch kit and following a directions. Click here for more week pool service by Gilbert Aquanuts.
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