August and pool is losing water again

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rlefig

rlefig

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Apr 29, 2013
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Reading, MA
Good morning, throughout most of the summer when I did random bucket tests and watched the pool I would lose about 1/2 inch per day, if that, and it has been a hot summer in the North East. Now that we have reached mid August I am going through an inch or more per day. I just set the bucket up this morning. The skimmer is clear.

I don't know why this happens every fall. I have a call into a leak specialist in MA, but he is supposedly very busy, but comes recommended. LAst year the cater never fell below bottom of skimmer so I think it is something up high. Just don't understand why it is a late summer thing.

So any other leak specialists in the Boston metro area?

Any ideas on what is up with this?

thanks

Rob
 
Looks like you are on the right tack. Hopefully someone from your neck of the woods will have something to say. Since it seems to happen every August could it just be due to hot temps?
 
Thanks ctrav, no the temps are starting to go down up here and I should have been clearer in that the increased loss of water seems to start around mid August. If anything the temps are a bit lower, it gets dark earlier, there still are no leaves yet, the humidity has been very high which I think would lessesn water loss and the solar cover is on just like it was in July and June.

I just do not understand why it happens every late August for the past 5 years or so. It makes me shut down the pool early.

Rob
 
Warm water and cooler nights create more evaporation.

The cover should slow it down.

Good luck on the sleuthing.
 
Maybe it does correlate with humidity but would more humid result in more water loss. The only thing I can think of is temp related but even thats a guess as it has been in the 60's at night and 80's during the day. And if it was temp related then in early summer it would be the same. We will see what the bucket test holds. It's just annoying to take the pool off of the timer because I don't want to run it low and have to dump in 3 inches every other day
 
The pool water is about 82 and last night the temp go into the lower 60's. So yes the pool water is definitely warmer now than in early summer. The outside temp maybe 5-10 degrees cooler. The solar cover as always is on at night.

All of this is good conversation! Thanks
 
You have a micro-climate over your pool. The meteorological term is advection cooling when cool air comes over warm air or surface. It often brings ground fog which is the evaporation from warm water.

Cool nights often are clear nights and thus no rain to offset any evaporation.
 

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Losing an inch daily is not from the weather......that's a leak.

Why do you have a leak that starts in August and then ends? I have no idea but that is the issue to be solved and it won't be because of the temp, dewpoint, or anything else related to the atmosphere.
 
duraleigh said:
Losing an inch daily is not from the weather......that's a leak.

Why do you have a leak that starts in August and then ends? I have no idea but that is the issue to be solved and it won't be because of the temp, dewpoint, or anything else related to the atmosphere.
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Dave, with all due respect, have you ever maintained a warm pool in cool Northeast weather?

I have seen this phenomenon for years when I maintain my pool at 86 - 88 degrees during the day going into the fall. On cool nights I can see the fog rising from my pool in my house floodlights. That fog is water I am losing.

I am happy for the OP to spend his money proving which of us is correct. And i am happy to buy you a steak dinner sometine when I am in FL if he has a leak.
 
Awesome stuff and I am baffled as well and I want in on that steak!!

So what we are saying is the following:

1. It could be a leak. But why only late August and September I don't know. I was thinking maybe expansion contraction of PVC? Bucket test should determine, correct?

2. It could be evaporation, My pool now might be 80, the temp last night got down to 60. From looking at pool I lost at least an inch. With the solar cover on. To me that inch seems excessive. The pool is very old, although it has been refinished and pump is new. But this behavior was there prior to refinishing. Bucket test should help with this as well.

3. Still trying to get hold of leak specialist. I don't want to spend the money but do want this resolved as our water bills in Reading MA are high
 
The thing is I don't think it is that cold at night yet, although it does get darker earlier FWIW. And it happens like clockwork this time of year becaomes difficult to run the pool because I am always topping it off 2-3 times per week, during summer I might top it off with a couple of inches once a week.
 
ajw22 said:
Dave, with all due respect, have you ever maintained a warm pool in cool Northeast weather?

I have seen this phenomenon for years when I maintain my pool at 86 - 88 degrees during the day going into the fall. On cool nights I can see the fog rising from my pool in my house floodlights. That fog is water I am losing.

I am happy for the OP to spend his money proving which of us is correct. And i am happy to buy you a steak dinner sometine when I am in FL if he has a leak.
Click to expand...

There was a night last late summer/early fall that I was too lazy to put my solar cover on...... 86 degree pool, temp dropped down into the upper 40s overnight..... I came out that morning and thought my pool was on fire!




I just have a hard time believing it is a leak if it isn't happening consistently.
 
duraleigh said:
I get it about fog and evaporation......ajw22, do you lose an inch daily? In August? With a solar cover on each night?
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I have seen my pool lose an inch or so in a night or two. It happens.

I happen to be in MA this week. Weather here is about 10 degrees cooler than home in NJ. Don’t discount how cool it can get in late August as you go more North.

I don’t know the effect of a solar cover at night and if it makes any evaporation difference at night.

- - - Updated - - -

Here is the temp for Reading, MA. It got down to 60 last night. Lets see if water loss is less next week when night temps are supposed to get down to 70.

98475A23-3E82-416E-82B7-DBF16F4C5510.jpg
 
rlefig said:
The solar cover as always is on at night.
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This would stop most evaporation when the air is coolest at night. I agree, 1" per day is too much for evaporation, it strongly suggests you have a leak. One reaon for the strange behaviour could relate to the level of groundwater saturation varying throughout the summer. Having said that, I could see the water loss decreasing over the last month, given all the rain the east coast has had! Why it would increase now is a mystery.
 
I agree we have had lots of rain. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I will post results of bucket test. I would love to keep pool open to October 1st if possible but just never have been able to as I get too frustrated with filling it up and manually running pump instead of on timer. At one point I thought leaves in the skimmer were causing suction issues and then possibly water loss, but no leaves have fallen yet.


Rob
 
ajw22 said:
Dave, with all due respect, have you ever maintained a warm pool in cool Northeast weather?

I have seen this phenomenon for years when I maintain my pool at 86 - 88 degrees during the day going into the fall. On cool nights I can see the fog rising from my pool in my house floodlights. That fog is water I am losing.

I am happy for the OP to spend his money proving which of us is correct. And i am happy to buy you a steak dinner sometine when I am in FL if he has a leak.
Click to expand...

Repair, patch, band aids expand & contract at different rates. I do a lot of touching up of band aids in August, particularly mastics, light leaks, liner patches & skimmer to wall interfaces.
 

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