inground pool leak

Hello,

Over the past 2 weeks I have noticed my water level dropping around 1/2 inch every few days. I have a 16x32 inground pool, vinyl liner which we are planning on replacing in the spring. I plugged the return and skimmer and turned off the pool to see if it was caused by a leak in the liner. I did notice the water level was still going down, but now that i have started it again its definitely draining faster. I just wanted to know what is the serious damage I can do if I leave it open for the last month of summer and also if it makes sense if its a liner leak that it would leak faster with the pool on then off.

thanks,
Alex

Membership updated.

1/2" every few days is not a lot. Evaporation can be that much. Do a bucket test
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/forumdisplay.php?142
to get an idea how big your 'real' leak is.

This thread covers some methods of dealing with liner leaks, though it sounds like you may have an underground pipe leak:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?8869