Above ground pool leak

[Dareford]

Hello all,

New member - Looking for suggestions on how to find a leak in an above groud pool vinyl liner. Have read about the food coloring, pool dyes, leak detection services, etc. Just wondering if anybody has any of those "slick tricks" that have worked well for them.

Thanks

[PoolDoc]

Finding leaks is a pain in the @#$, no matter how you do it.

I've got some major leaks in the local 200K gallon country club pool I service, and I've spent 6 hours hunting for them this spring, and 6 more hours testing to measure the volume and approximate location, this past fall. I've reduced the loss by 50% . . . but now I've got to go hunt for the little leaks, and will spend most of this coming Monday creeping around the big pool in a mask and snorkel, creeping around the big pool with an ink filled syringe.

It sounds like you want a quick, easy, effective and cheap solution.

Let me know if you find one --I find what I'm having to do quite tedious.

[Dareford]

PoolDoc,

Thanks for your straight forward, honest reply. It pretty much convinced me there were no easy ways, and I might well don the trunks and goggles and have at it. Spent about an hour and a half in the 66 degree water Friday evening checking all the seams and searching for anything that looked like a potential leak. Especially near the section of wall where the ground was wet. No luck.

Saturday afternoon, (water now a very warm 69 :>) I decided to pull the wedding cake steps although they are at least 15 feet away from the wet area. As soon as I moved the steps out of the way, my problem was reveled. A small cut just under the back edge of where the steps meet the bottom of the pool. I suspect a very small piece of gravel got into the pool and worked it's way under the steps. Installed patch yesterday afternoon and so far no water loss nearly 17 hours later. Was loosing about 1/2" - 3/4" per 24 hours. Will wait the full 24 hours as directed in the patch instructions before reinstalling the steps.

Just thought I would post an update in hopes of possibly helping someone else. I have a sand bottom in my pool. obviously the water from the leak was traveling through the sand and coming out from under the pool wall 15 feet away although the cut was only inches from the wall. My suggestion for anyone searching for a leak that has wedding cake steps is to pull the steps and check the area as part of your initial search. It might just pay off.

Thanks again PoolDoc

[PoolDoc]

I'm glad you found your leak; wish me luck in finding mine!

[Dareford]

PoolDoc,

Good luck, and may your search prove fruitful.

[Watermom]

PoolDoc,

Good luck, and may your search prove fruitful.

and may the water be warmer than 69 degrees! BRRR! (If not, hope they have the defibrillator nearby!)