Bucket test accuracy.

[Sherlock]

I' m doing such a test myself, I shut off the pump and so on and the water is dead calm, so far (14 hrs) the levels seem identical. I got this from Amazon and it does seem ideal:



I put a weight inside to stop it moving easily and it seems fine. I just wondered too if putting some food color into the bucket might make any level difference easier to spot. Sitting on the pool's baja shelf the rim sits about 1.5" above the water level.

 

[Texas Splash]

Very interesting. I've not considered a clear vessel to help with comparing the two bodies of water. Let us know how it goes.

 

[bobloblaw42]

I' m doing such a test myself, I shut off the pump and so on and the water is dead calm, so far (14 hrs) the levels seem identical. I got this from Amazon and it does seem ideal:

View attachment 581595

I put a weight inside to stop it moving easily and it seems fine. I just wondered too if putting some food color into the bucket might make any level difference easier to spot. Sitting on the pool's baja shelf the rim sits about 1.5" above the water level.

No idea if food coloring would act as a 'liquid solar cover' or not. It introduces a variable uncontrolled for in the test - so my inclination is to skip the coloring.

 

[Darin]

put green in the test container and then tell the neighbor kids you pee'd in it. They might get a worried look.....

 

[Sherlock]

No idea if food coloring would act as a 'liquid solar cover' or not. It introduces a variable uncontrolled for in the test - so my inclination is to skip the coloring.

You're right, very good point - any difference between inside and out only complicates the test.

 

[1poolman1]

No idea if food coloring would act as a 'liquid solar cover' or not. It introduces a variable uncontrolled for in the test - so my inclination is to skip the coloring.

Liquid solar covers are a polymer that floats atop the water. Food coloring suffuses in the entire vessel (slow or fast depending on stirring). While a laboratory would likely be able to measure a difference in evaporation, in the "pool" world we don't need that type if precision.