HELP - leak maybe? advice
Ok i have a 28x14 inground diamondbrite pool from my calculations 13,000gallons, the problem i have recently noticed is the water level dropping about 2-3 inches per 24hours while the filter is on, when it is off maybe 1inch of drop in water level in 24hours, i cannot see any leaking plumbing around the filter or any exposed pvc plumbing, nor can i see any water or wet spots around the pool. i need any help or advice, how to go about finding the leak? is it something a do-it-yourself home owner can repair and anything else which can help me in this situation. Thanks in advance
one other thing i have noticed while the water level is below the skimmer and the barracuda is off, the water level is good which leads me to believe the leak is somewhere between the skimmer pvc to the filter, but how do i confirm this? and does this make sense to people with experiance in this type of situation. Thanks
Last edited by xoroniox; 04-01-2006 at 07:55 PM.
I strongly believe that the leak is in your return line(s). I would have the returns pressure tested, if you know how to do it and can, you'll save quite a few bucks. If not, get a reliable company to do the test, and make the repair/ replacement. You did not specify what kind of pool you have, nor it's age.
In the future please include as much info on the pool as you can to get more and BETTER responses to your questions.
Leak
Yes the age of the pool as well as is the deck new/old? may have alot to do with it. Possibly the deck may have moved or while the masons where setting there forms around the perimeter for the deck may have hammered a stake into one of your pipes.
the pool is 30years old, diamondbrite was last done 4years ago, and the deck is the same age, concrete deck with a pebble top finish which has not been messed with other than pressure cleaning in years. I will do some research on pressure testing the return lines i believe i would be able to do it with the right tools and knowledge. any advice or information on this test would be very helpful, thanks for both of your help.
there have been no leaks or problems with the pool other than a new pump installation in the last 4years, since i have owned the house/pool, any other info needed please ask.
Last edited by xoroniox; 04-01-2006 at 10:10 PM.
Not too uncommon to find a suction side leak in the skimmers. The decking shifts and cracks them. Careful visual inspection will frequently find them. If so, they're fairly easy to fix....hope it's that simple.
Dave s.
If the pool has a main drain with a hydrostatic valve consider whether the valve has lifted due to pressure of ground water when pool water was low. Sometimes when this happens trash gets in the valve and it does not close completely. Simple solution is to swim down and lift valve momentarily and hope trash is flushed out as valve closes. Then wait and see if that solves the problem.
Thanks for your help, so to check this i would swim to down to the main down, does it matter if the filter system is on or off? and open the main drain cover and check for the valve because i am not sure if my pool has that valve or not. if it does lift the valve and close it and hope that does something.Originally Posted by pmdelage
Not too uncommon to find a suction side leak in the skimmers. The decking shifts and cracks them. Careful visual inspection will frequently find them. If so, they're fairly easy to fix....hope it's that simple.
right i agree the most probable cause is the suction side skimmer plumbing however i am unsure how to find the location of the leak, i have checked carefully all exposed plumbing and its sealed tight, but it must be leaking because i lost 2" over night while the skimmer was on and when it was off i lost 1/3" maybe and it was a 90degree day here in south florida. thanks for your help
This is exactly where my leak was, in the skimmer throat. I was loosing about 1" a day. I hired a leak test company (@ $400) to find it. They found it by squirting phenol red through a long, thin tube. Wherever the leak is, it sucks the red dye right in.Not too uncommon to find a suction side leak in the skimmers. The decking shifts and cracks them. Careful visual inspection will frequently find them. If so, they're fairly easy to fix....hope it's that simple.
Dave s.
Michael
hey thanks for your reply i got plenty of phenol red on hand and thin clear plastic tubing which i use for my fish tanks that will work perfect for this application. however once they found the leak on your skimmer troat piece how did they or you go about fixing this problem? the more help the better because this sounds really close to being my problem that or the plumbing coming from the skimmer which i am going to dig up tomorrow and see if any of that leaks. i will update and thanks for your help
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