Have you ever had the feeling that you have been adding more water than usual to your pool and begin to wonder if the pool is losing water? Sometimes it’s obvious. However, more often it’s a gradual water loss, and it makes the pool owner question whether it’s a leak or just evaporation and splash-out. Either way, the potential issue cannot be ignored as failing to address it will lead to costly water damage to your pool and/or property. Even more, failing to ignore the problem will only cost more money in the future. Fortunately Leak Busters utilizes cutting edge technology to provide solutions to your leak problems.
Is just one inch of water loss really too much???
A common misconception about water loss is that an inch of water is not a lot of water loss. However, did you realize in a 20'x40' pool, just one inch of water loss equates to 498 gallons of water!!! A 20' round above ground pool loses 196 gallons per inch of water loss. Just think about how many inches of water your pool is losing each day? If you have a pool leak, you should begin to wonder where all the water is going, what is it undermining, how much money in chemicals am I wasting, how much higher will my water bill increase, and will a repair later for a larger problem be more expensive than addressing it now?
Here is the the formula for pool water loss so that you can figure it out for your pool:
Gallons of water loss = inches of water loss x surface area of pool (LxW) x 0.623.
Signs that Your Pool May be Leaking
Observed water loss of more than 1/4 inch per day. It’s not uncommon to lose up to a ¼ inch of water a day to evaporation and splash-out, but more than that could indicate a leak
Air bubbles coming out of your return jets
Your pump has difficulty priming or maintaining prime
Presence of algae growth
Using more chemicals than usual
Your pool deck is heaving, sinking, or cracking
Landscaped areas near the pool are wet or have pooling water
The Bucket Test
Step 1: If you would like to determine for yourself if your pool is leaking, you can do what is commonly called the bucket test. The easiest method to test for a pool leak is the Bucket Test. Get a 5-gallon bucket and follow these directions, preferably on a day without rain:
Step 2: Where and what is the likely suspect for the leak?
To address this question, you need to do another bucket test for the following 24 hours, but this time with the pump on for circulation. With the pump on, you can determine the water loss as you did above and the likely suspected area as follows:
Is just one inch of water loss really too much???
A common misconception about water loss is that an inch of water is not a lot of water loss. However, did you realize in a 20'x40' pool, just one inch of water loss equates to 498 gallons of water!!! A 20' round above ground pool loses 196 gallons per inch of water loss. Just think about how many inches of water your pool is losing each day? If you have a pool leak, you should begin to wonder where all the water is going, what is it undermining, how much money in chemicals am I wasting, how much higher will my water bill increase, and will a repair later for a larger problem be more expensive than addressing it now?
Here is the the formula for pool water loss so that you can figure it out for your pool:
Gallons of water loss = inches of water loss x surface area of pool (LxW) x 0.623.
Signs that Your Pool May be Leaking
Observed water loss of more than 1/4 inch per day. It’s not uncommon to lose up to a ¼ inch of water a day to evaporation and splash-out, but more than that could indicate a leak
Air bubbles coming out of your return jets
Your pump has difficulty priming or maintaining prime
Presence of algae growth
Using more chemicals than usual
Your pool deck is heaving, sinking, or cracking
Landscaped areas near the pool are wet or have pooling water
The Bucket Test
Step 1: If you would like to determine for yourself if your pool is leaking, you can do what is commonly called the bucket test. The easiest method to test for a pool leak is the Bucket Test. Get a 5-gallon bucket and follow these directions, preferably on a day without rain:
- Bring the pool water to its normal level.
- Place a bucket on one of your steps and fill it with water, so that the level in the bucket matches the pool level.
- Mark the water level both inside and outside the bucket with a black marker.
- Turn off your pump and your automatic water fill, if any. Wait 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, mark the new level of the water inside the bucket with a red marker. Also mark the level of the pool water on the outside of the bucket with a red marker.
- Now, compare the marks. If the drop from black to red is greater on the outside of the bucket than the inside of the bucket, then you have a leak.
Step 2: Where and what is the likely suspect for the leak?
To address this question, you need to do another bucket test for the following 24 hours, but this time with the pump on for circulation. With the pump on, you can determine the water loss as you did above and the likely suspected area as follows:
- Water loss pump on > Water loss pump off = Possible return (pressure side) plumbing leak
- Water loss pump on < Water loss pump off = Possible skimmer (suction side) or main drain plumbing leak
- Water loss pump on = Water loss pump off = Possible shell or fittings leak
Be prepared to answer the following questions:
- Leaking more or less with the equipment on?
- Is the pool leaking more or less with the equipment off?
- Does the pool leak all the time, same water loss with pump on or off?
- Do you have an automatic water leveler?
- Do you have foundations, waterfalls, and/or integrated spa?
- Has the water stabilized at any particular level. I.e. at below skimmer, below light?
- Vinyl Liner, Gunite, or Cement Pool?
- Any air bubbles being pushed into the pool from the wall jets when pool is running?
- Notice any issues priming the pump and filter at start up?
- When did the problem start?
- Was the water low over the winter, or was it low when you opened the pool?
- How was your water loss last year?