Leak detection

[miamicuse]

I am pretty sure I have a leak in my swimming pool. I started noticing the leak about a month ago, prior to that it was fine.

The first thing I did was to make sure it's not just excessive evaporation from the hotter than usual weather. So I placed a clear bucket inside the pool at one of the steps. Then filled water into the bucket until it is the same level as the pool water outside. This way if it rains or evaporates it should still be the same level as the pool. Normal evaporation is about 1/4" per day, and my pool is losing about 1 inch per day. So it's not evaporation.

Next I wait to see if the water loss stops or settles at a certain level, and it seems to do that. Once it reaches about 3 inches below the bottom of the blue tiles as shown in the pictures below, it stops - as in it goes back to just lose water to evaporation.

That line does not correspond to any light fixture, or any inlet or outlet location. So it's not leaking out through them right?

I did a careful examination around the pool to make sure there is no crack in the pool shell at that level.

I then went to look at the pump and the filter and all the exposed piping, and did not see any leak there.

So at this point, I am thinking the only thing left is the buried piping or the skimmer assembly itself, is this the correct conclusion? Anywhere else I need to look?

If the leak is inside the skimmer assembly, will the pool water stop leaking at the "lip" of the skimmer inlet or can it settle a few inches below?

This is from the skimmer assembly looking out to the pool.

I had the skimmer valve turned off, so the skimmer is a bit dirty with the basket removed.

Can the leak be inside here somewhere? My understanding is if there is a leak here, I can buy a syringe with dye and move around and see if the dye migrates to anywhere inside?

How will I confirm if the leak is happening at any of the buried piping? If I fill the pool up a few inches, and turn the pump off for a few days, and shut off any valves going to and from the pump, it should stop the leak and go back to losing just 1/4" a day to evaporation right? Is that a valid test?

Or is this something best left to a leak detection specialist?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

The skimmer would seem to be a logical concern, however by looking at pic #2, it appears the water level is well below the skimmer correct? If it was leaking at the skimmer, once water could no longer flow into the skimmer throat, the water level should stop dropping.

Is this water level loss repeatable? By that I mean if you added water mid-way to the skimmer opening, will it drop to the exact same place in a day or so to about 2-3 inches below the skimmer opening?

Leak Detection

A number of things can cause leaks in your pool. You can learn tricks for leak detection and how to pinpoint where your pool is losing water.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[miamicuse]

Is this water level loss repeatable? By that I mean if you added water mid-way to the skimmer opening, will it drop to the exact same place in a day or so to about 2-3 inches below the skimmer opening?

Yes it is repeatable. It always settles at the same level. If it rains or I add several inches of water, it will drop back down to the same level in 1 t0 1.5 days.

What is interesting, is if I use a garden hose and fill water into the skimmer assembly from the top, and let the water level inside the skimmer rise (higher than the pool water level), it will also drop back down inside the skimmer, even though the valve for the skimmer suction line at the pump is closed off. I don't know if there is anything that equalizes the skimmer water level and pool water level.

Is there a way I can plug the skimmer hole at the bottom of the skimmer assembly to do a water level test of just the assembly casing?

 

[RuiP]

Yes it is repeatable. It always settles at the same level. If it rains or I add several inches of water, it will drop back down to the same level in 1 t0 1.5 days.

What is interesting, is if I use a garden hose and fill water into the skimmer assembly from the top, and let the water level inside the skimmer rise (higher than the pool water level), it will also drop back down inside the skimmer, even though the valve for the skimmer suction line at the pump is closed off. I don't know if there is anything that equalizes the skimmer water level and pool water level.

Is there a way I can plug the skimmer hole at the bottom of the skimmer assembly to do a water level test of just the assembly casing?

I also had a leak. Thought my skimmer valve was off, so I discarded the skimmers as the culprits.
It took me almost 1 month to figure out that the skimmer valve didn't shut off completely! Even if I turned it all the way, it would still let water through, therefore, allowing it to leak through a broken pipe below the skimmer.

So, suggestion: double check if your valves are REALLY off

 

[jesse-99]

I've bought the dye syringes off Amazon (get a big bottle too of the dye), they can be very helpful, especially in small targeted areas like a skimmer. Worth trying IMHO.

 

[Bperry]

Take a look at this guys video on leak detection and see if your light might be the issue.