How do I know if my swimming pool is leaking?
It’s hard to keep water in a pool. Every swimming pool, spa, or landscape pond is probably going to leak at some point in its useful life. These pesky problems can be more than just an inconvenience. An un-repaired hole the size of a pencil tip can result in hundreds of gallons of water lost per day. In addition to the replacement cost of the water, leaks in your pool will increase chemical demands, and may lead to more serious structural and mechanical problems. Fortunately, effective leak location and leak repair solutions are available.
Pool leak symptoms resulting from water loss – By far the most common indication of a leak is that the water level is dropping faster than what is normally attributable to evaporation or splash-out. Often leaks are big enough that excess water loss is obvious. If you wake-up to find that your pool has dropped several inches overnight you know you’ve got a problem. The bigger challenges are the smaller, yet just as serious, leaks that may develop slowly. In these cases it is important to determine what is “normal water loss”, and thus avoid wasting time looking for and worrying about a leak that really isn’t there. A simple way to account for evaporation and confirm a leak is to do a Bucket Test, or for more accurate results to purchase and use a Check-A-Leak System.
If you have an automatic fill device on your pool, a dropping water level may not be evident. However, high water bills may be the first indication of a leak problem. You may also notice an increase in the chemicals required to maintain proper balance, or that there is excess algae growth because the new water that’s being put into the pool is untreated. Other pool leak symptoms may be actual evidence of the water that has escaped from your pool. Wet, mushy, or unusually “healthy” spots in the lawn may be evidence of underground plumbing leaks. Structural damage, cracks, and settling to the deck or pool may also be indications of underground leaks. If left un-repaired, these problems can quickly become more serious.