Leak- Losing 3" a day

[ellry99]

I have an inground gunite pool. I have a leak and am loosing 3" a day now. I don't know where to begin to find this leak....any suggestions?

Thanks,
Elle

[VOLDADDY]

Elle,

Sorry that I can't help you out. I had a leak in my pool but it is a vinyl liner. Poconos will be a great help in locating a leak. Hopefully, he will see this soon and point you in the right direction. Good luck!

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

Since you know you are leaking I think the next step is to isolate whether it is in pipes or pool structure. Do you see any large cracks through plaster? I would also try the bucket test with the pump shut down and returns and drains plugged.

[JohnT]

I have an inground gunite pool. I have a leak and am loosing 3" a day now. I don't know where to begin to find this leak....any suggestions?

Thanks,
Elle

Does it leak with both the pump running and off?
Do you have plumbed waste line or do you have a backwash hose?
Does it stop leaking at a certain level, or will it keep losing water?

These are three things you need to know. The first thing I would do is check the waste line, if you have one to see if water is coming out there. This is pretty common, and tells you you have a valve problem in the filter.

The second thing is to let the pool go 12 hours without running the pump and see if the loss is the same as 12 hours with the pump running. This will help determine if you have a plumbing problem or pool problem.

Tell us more about your filter. Higher than the pool or lower than the pool? How old?

Returns, skimmers, tile grout, drains and lights are all good places to look for leaks.

How old is your pool and has any work been done recently?

[ellry99]

Thanks for the replies.

The pool leaks when it is running and when it is not. It is leaking faster when it is not running.

I kept it off for a 48 hours and it leaked down to the returns and then I filled it back up to run it off the main drain to keep it from getting too dirty. So I don't know if it would have leaked further than that.

No leak at waste line.

I haven't had any work done recently. Had a tile and coping job 2 years ago. Everything fine after.

However, I have had the spa return start bubbling when pool is off, like it was sucking water in. However, when I did the dye test, it did not suck the dye in thru that return.

The sand filter is higher than pool and is 2 year old Hayward.

I did have a crack in my skimmer when I opened my pool. I sealed it with marine putty and I don't think that is it as it is way above where it is leaking down to.

My pool is about 30 years old.

Anything further I should test?

[JohnT]

Usually a leak that is worse when the pump is off is a suction side leak, like a cracked pipe from a skimmer or drain. When the pump runs, it pulls the gap together and slows down the leak. It would have to be below the water level to behave this way. A typical pressure side leak gets worse when the pump is on. A typical pool structure leak doesn't care whether the pump is on or not.

Plugging the skimmer and leaving it off would be my next step. Good luck.

[Poconos]

Elle,
You've gotten good advice so far. Seems like things are pointing to the main drain. When I was looking for my leak last year I taped a piece of small diameter auto vacuum hose to a 10' PVC pipe, 1/2", and used that to squirt dye at the deep end. Used a 1 gal. garden sprayer for the dye. Water has to be very still and you need to squirt just a little bit and watch. 3" a day in my pool was about 3 quarts per minute which is easy to find. For dye you can get a dye marker at a dive shop, or boil chopped beets.
Al

[ellry99]

Yes, I fear it is the main drain that is leaking.

I plugged all the returns in pool and spa. (The water level was already below the skimmers) and the level went down another couple inches over night.

Is the main drain a major repair? What is involved in the repair? Do I have to drain all the water out of the pool?

[Poconos]

Someone else can chime in because I have no idea. Anything buried can be a real PITA, translated...$$$$. Personally I wouldn't want one. I'd still do a dye test just to confirm.
Al

[ellry99]

So.. I am losing waaaay more than 3" a day. I lost over 12" in the last 24 hours. The water is now 1/2 way down the light.

I am letting the water go down to see if it will stop after the light, and if not guess its the main drain. I guess I wouldn't be losing this much if it was the light.

I did the dye test around the light and nothing. I tried to do it on the main drain, but I need to get a longer pipe. My wasn't long enough to get close.