losing water after replaster

[PoolDoc]

If you have a main drain, and can turn off your skimmer but leave the pump running, do so. Then you can let the pool leak down till it (hopefully) stops. That will ID the level of the lowest gravity leak. If the primary leak is at the tile line, the water will stop dropping at that point.

If it keeps leaking . . . you've probably got a leak in your piping, or the deeper areas of the pool.

If you have no main drain, you can add a double dose of polyquat algaecide, and then turn the pump off. With temps of 50 degrees, the pool should be fine for a couple of weeks.

Regarding the leaks founds so far, I learned the hard way myself to NEVER say, "I found THE leak!". Instead, I learned to say, "I found and patched some leaks (or a leak), but we'll have to wait and see if those were THE leaks. If not, we'll need to keep looking."

[CarlD]

If you aren't sure if it's leaking you should try the bucket test, where you float a buck mostly full of water in the pool. If the water in the pool and the bucket both go down, no leak.

Carl

[pool_slave]

Thanks for the quick reply.

"We tested the suction lines for the skimmer, main
drain, cleaner, and return lines. These lines were all found to be free of
leaks. We dove the pool and spa and inspected the structures." - quote from the leak detection guys

I like the suggestion of draining the pool below the tile line to see if I continue to lose water. I think that will be my next step. At least that way I can determine if the problem is in the tile, right?

Where is all this lost water going? I'm not seeing any flooded lawn or apparent damp spots in the concrete? Is it possibly causing damage somewhere under the ground?

Lynn

[PoolDoc]

If the pool stops draining at the tile, then your primary, but not necessarily your only, problem is at the tile line.

If you really want to be specific, use the poly-quat and turn the pump off. Then, if it stops draining at some reasonable level -- don't let the whole pool drain -- you can turn the pump back on (if you have a main drain) and see if it drains further. If it does, you have BOTH a gravity leak, probably in the shell, the tile or the piping from the skimmers and/or main drain AND a pressure leak in the piping coming FROM the pump.

In many cases, even rather large leaks will not show up above ground: the water tends to flow down, not up.

Good luck!