Unexplained water loss

[smirnoff]

Hi, thanks for letting me join this forum. I am at wit's end regarding the loss of water in my pool.

I have called some of the pool places in my area, in Ontario Canada and have had no luck trying to resolve my problem.

For the past two years, I close my pool for the winter. I bring the water below the lines, close it like I normally do.

In the spring I have noticed a substantial water loss of about 2 feet (including the melted snow on my tarp), which seems to occur over the winter somehow. Last spring when it first happened, I filled the pool with water to bring it to normal levels, waiting for the water loss to happen again figuring it is a leak somewhere in the lining or pipes. I put a water filled bucket to measure normal water loss versus unusual water loss. Besides the normal evaporation I did not loose any other water. I figured it may have been a one time thing, so I closed my pool like normal this past winter. Same thing happened. Tarp ripped and my water level is two feet lower. Also to note that the water level has remained the two feet lower since the snow has melted. I have not lost any additional water. I eyballed the liner and there does not seem to be a tear. And since I did not loose any water last season, I am guessing it is not the liner.

Has anybody had this type of experience before.

I appreciate any suggestions to start me on the right track to get this resolved.

Thanks very much.

[PoolDoc]

It sounds like the pool water dropped to the same level both times? That almost always means a leak at, or just below, the final water level. If there's nothing at that level but liner . . . you very likely have a liner leak.

[smirnoff]

Thanks for the reply.

What would be the best way to detect a liner leak. I eyballed the pool liner and did not see any tears or anything.

Also strange that I did not loose any water last summer.

Thanks

[smirnoff]

Is it possible it has something to do with my deep end drain? Winter triggering a water loss then self repairing during the spring?

[waste]

Welcome to The Forum!

I'm thinking that you don't have a leak. What i suspect is that the water on the cover and the block of ice in the pool are pushing pool water out (I might be able to guess where if I knew more about your set up).

Your experience from last year verifies that the pool isn't leaking - or, at least wasn't last year when the same thing happened.

What I suggest is to measure down to the water level and keep note of how far down the water was upon opening. Then go ahead and refill the pool and double check for a leak with the bucket test. If the bucket test shows a leak, you already know approximately how deep the leak should be.

[JimK]

Welcome to The Forum!

I'm thinking that you don't have a leak. What i suspect is that the water on the cover and the block of ice in the pool are pushing pool water out (I might be able to guess where if I knew more about your set up).

Your experience from last year verifies that the pool isn't leaking - or, at least wasn't last year when the same thing happened....

I was thinking the same thing and had a similar experience a couple years ago. We had a couple of bad storms back to back in the fall that dumped alot of rain (12+ inches) after the pool had been closed for the winter. The water that accumulated on the cover displaced the water in the pool. I didn't realize this had happened until I took the cover off in the spring, but I figured it out when I refilled the pool and there were no leaks.

[smirnoff]

Hi there thanks for all the answers. To add more complexity to the issue, I seem to be losing way more water than what would be displaced from the cover. Reason being I lose so much water over the winter that my tarp (which was sitting on top of the water in the fall) completely rips (second tarp in so many years) from the pressure of the snow and where the water is now sitting in the pool. So now I don't have any water on the tarp and my water level is about 2 feet below where I closed the pool.