Help! Pool Cover Issues and Leak Issues

I’ve got a couple of problems with my above ground vinyl 18’ x 36’ pool that I sure could use some advise on. I’ve had the pool for 5 summer seasons. It’s partially buried into the ground – 2 feet – and I have an oval deep end scooped out of the ground about another 3 feet. Like many others here, I’ve been through a lot – 3 seasons with the bacquacil nightmare. I’ve had a lot of tree leaf issues also.

I’ve covered my pool every year with a solid cover, with a couple of air pillows under the cover. I live in Dallas so I don’t have ice issues in the winter. There are several oak trees over and around the periphery of my pool, so leaves, in the fall, and pollen, in the spring, collect on top of the cover if it is on, or in the pool if it is not. Typically, I’ve gotten the cover on in October, and off in early April. Outside air temperatures can go into the 80s in December and January so, no doubt, I can and do have issues with “green”, dirty water when I remove the cover.

Part of the issue with water quality under the cover is that the cover is worn out with various small holes – I know it needs to be replaced. However, I am tired of dealing with the dirty, stinky leaf mess on top of the cover every year. In addition, it becomes very difficult to pull the cover off in the spring due to the heavy, wet leaf mass. There is enough exchange of water through the cover with the surface of the water under the cover that I can never get the leaf mass dry. I usually go through a “back-breaking” two day ordeal to reach and get enough of the debris off to be able to lift and pull the last of the cover off at one end of the pool.

I’m not sure if I want to put a solid cover on any more. I see my options as:

1. No cover
2. A NEW solid cover with a mesh leaf cover on top of it
3. A mesh leaf cover only

I lean towards just a mesh cover, but I’m not sure if it is strong enough by itself. If I do just that I can still see using air pillows to suspend the mesh cover above the water. In any scenario I plan on draining the pool enough to shut off and dismantle the pump and filter for the winter to save on electricity costs.

It seems most places have this leaf mesh cover:

http://www.poolcenter.com/leaf_nets_...ool_covers.htm

I’d love some opinions as to what seems to be the best to do.

My next problem is I recently noticed that my water level had gone significantly down since covered in October. There is about a foot of water in the shallow end of my pool. There has been very little rain this winter. We’re anticipating a lot of rain this weekend – I decided to remove the cover hurriedly last night to avoid a buildup of water on the cover, with the added weight that would cause the sides to collapse in absence to the support of water. I wasn’t able to do my usual thorough cleaning and removal of the leaves, and right now the edges of the cover are over the side of the pool at one end with the bottom of the cover too heavy to raise out because of the collection of debris that was on top of it and now in it. That’s another matter that I’ll figure out how to tackle. At least the rain is going into the pool and not collecting on top of the cover.

My issue is that obviously I have a leak. It seems to be going down about an inch every few days or so. At this point, the water level seems to keep going down – it seems likely that the leak is on the bottom of the pool somewhere. I had a incident with a lot of glass getting into the pool this summer, felt like I pretty much got all of it out. I didn’t seem to have an issue with the pool level going down excessively during the summer after this incident, but maybe that was not the case. The water is pretty dirty at this point. I’m not sure I have any choice but to let it continue to go down to see where it will stop. It seems like I won’t be able to do anything until I can get into the pool in the spring. The dirty-ness of the water would seem to impede locating a leak.

Any suggestions on how I can locate this leak? The liner seems to be in pretty good shape otherwise – although I realize there’s the possibility that I might have to replace it.

I apologize for the long-winded note. Any advise on how to tackle these issues would be greatly appreciated. Thanks…

Hi,

I live 200 miles south near Austin. My IG 16K Gallon Gunite pool is also near several trees, and I too use a cover. My cover is a safety cover with straps anchored to the concrete walkway. I use a 2 speed pump on low speed and run it 4 hours a day over the winter. I also keep the TC up with bleach. I seem to lose about 1ppm / week with cold water and little UV exposure.

Your above ground pool may be overdue for a new liner unless the leak(s) are small and easily fixable.

My water stays clear. I'd hate to think what would happen if I made a Frog Pond every winter. I'm not too familiar with AG pools, but it seems to me that being in Dallas you don't need to put the pool to bed over the winter. It's just too warm to do that IMHO.

Finding leaks with filthy water will be a challenge. I suggest you re-connect your pump and shock your pool with bleach as described elsewhere on this forum. Maybe running the pump will provide clues as to where your leak is.

BTW, the Live Oak trees here are most destructive from early April to mid May. My cover comes off mid May. If I take it off too soon, I plug my whole filtration system up with junk from these trees, and this happens daily.

Good Luck,
Jimmy C.

Thanks for the response, Jimmy ...

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Your above ground pool may be overdue for a new liner unless the leak(s) are small and easily fixable.

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I'm prepared to replace it if that's what it comes to, but I'd like to put at least some effort in tyring to locate the leaks prior to spending that kind of money.

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My water stays clear. I'd hate to think what would happen if I made a Frog Pond every winter.

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My water has been pretty good except for the last couple of years - the cover just appears to be worn enough that the crud on top seeps through.

Quote:

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I'm not too familiar with AG pools, but it seems to me that being in Dallas you don't need to put the pool to bed over the winter. It's just too warm to do that IMHO.

Finding leaks with filthy water will be a challenge. I suggest you re-connect your pump and shock your pool with bleach as described elsewhere on this forum. Maybe running the pump will provide clues as to where your leak is.

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My wife and I are in disagreement over that. I'm tired of going through the hassle of dealing with the cover, expecially the "back breaking" effort invovled with getting all of the crud off for cover removal. She's more concerned with the energy usage over the winter - which is definitely a point to consider.

The water is down to a foot from the bottom. I'm not sure filling it up without having some idea of where the leak is, only to have it go down again is the best of situations. There have been water rationing rules - especially related to refilling pools - in effect around here.

For all I know, this was an issue during the summer, and what I assumed was loss due to evaporation, was really a leak problem - I'm just not sure.

Anyway thanks again for the reply - I'm just trying to solicit enough advise to take the best course of action. I suspect I'm going to at least see if it reaches a low point and see if I can discover any type of holes - and give up at the beginning of the summer.

I use a mesh safety cover--I check once in a while that the pool isn[t too full.

What brand do you use? Do you not have a problem with it sitting on the water and the water sppeing back through to the top of the cover?

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Originally Posted by b2001

What brand do you use? Do you not have a problem with it sitting on the water and the water sppeing back through to the top of the cover?

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I'm not sure of the brand--leisureliving.com has the brand--it's called a "safety cover". I do not know if they work on standard AGs, but it works on mine. It's under tension and rarely touches the water--but it's not a problem. I stopped bothering with pillows--doesn't need them.

This was said:
My wife and I are in disagreement over that. I'm tired of going through the hassle of dealing with the cover, expecially the "back breaking" effort invovled with getting all of the crud off for cover removal. She's more concerned with the energy usage over the winter - which is definitely a point to consider.

My Reply:
We all have to pick our arguments. Think about the costs associated with transitioning a frog pond to a pool every spring versus the cost of maintaining a pool over the winter. You could run your pump only and hour or two a day, or if a 2 speed pump a bit more on low speed. Without the UV load, and the cold water temperature, I bet one large jug of wall mart bleach per month will keep the chlorination need satisfied.

Your leak situation is the kicker here. Maybe there is some visible healthy growth of weeds around the pool suggesting wet soil at one side of the pool? I bought one of those soil moisture meters where you stab the ground looking for moisture. These can be useful when looking for leaks so long as it hasn't rained in a while.

Jim