New Pool Owner with Leak needs help!

[BioSam]

Hi All,

New to the forum. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Here is my situation. I'm in southern California, just purchased a home with a pool (1st pool). The pool is about 25k gallons and is coated with peebletek and has natural stone all around the top. It also has a built in spa, also has natural stone all around. I recently noticed my planters in the backyard were saturated with water. I assumed I had leaking sprinklers or a sprinkler pipe. I went through and checked all that and it's not my sprinklers. So naturally I next assumed it was the pool. I did a bucket test and found I was loosing about .5" - .75" a day. So I called a pool leak company and they did a pressure test and a dye test..... They only found a small crack in the spa but due to its location would not or should not impact my planters. For the last couple of weeks I've been trying to figure out what's saturating my planters so much if the pool is not leaking. This morning I happen to get up early about 6am and notice the small cracks that I have in my backyard concrete around the pool were wet --- like water was flowing through them. Most, if not all the small cracks end in the planters. My theory, again I'm a new pool owner so not much experience, is the water is "wicking" through the natural stone up to the concrete and through the cracks. I have pictures but I don't know how to post them to the forum. A little embarrasing actually.

My question is what are my options to solve this type of problem? Also is my theory somewhat realistic? As I mentioned, any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

[aylad]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!!

I can't answer your questions, but someone should be along shortly who can. In the meantime, if you want to send pics, you can send them to poolforum@gmail.com. Include the URL of this thread so Ben will know where to attach them. Also, send the biggest pics you can--he can downsize them, but cannot upsize them if they're too small.

[waste]

Welcome to The Forum!

I've done a good bit of leak detection and will help as i can.

Using the bucket test:

1) check water loss between when the system is running for 24 hours and when it's off for 24 hours.

2) check the loss with the system off for 12 hours v.s. 12 hours off with all inlets and outlets plugged.


With both these, also compare the amount of water in your planters, while doing the above tests.

Let us know what's going on and we'll do our best to get yo all set.

[BioSam]

I noticed your in Maine... Know anyone is Southern California that likes to solve pool puzzles. unforunately with work , etc I don't have the time.... Let me see if I can get my pool to do the tests. Please let me know if you have other suggestions.

Thanks

Welcome to The Forum!

I've done a good bit of leak detection and will help as i can.

Using the bucket test:

1) check water loss between when the system is running for 24 hours and when it's off for 24 hours.

2) check the loss with the system off for 12 hours v.s. 12 hours off with all inlets and outlets plugged.


With both these, also compare the amount of water in your planters, while doing the above tests.

Let us know what's going on and we'll do our best to get yo all set.

[PoolDoc]

In my experience, both doing leak detection, and in hiring it done, it's icky-picky time consuming work that often has a less than definite outcome when performed by someone skilled who's physically at your pool -- trying to do it remotely via a forum is unlikely to succeed.

We can help walk people through a bucket test, to see whether they really have a leak or not. And, we can tell them likely places to look for troublesome suction leaks. But more than that? Probably not.