Hydrostatic Relief Valve

[JRRandall]

I have a 30+ year old gunite pool that was recently renovated and replastered. This year I opened it up to find over 80% of the water was gone. A few dye test leak detections later it appears that the main drain is leaking out right around where the pipe meets the drain (it's an old all-gunite main drain, there is no PVC drain box). The hydrostatic valve I have is just an old hockey puck heavy plastic disk around an o-ring right near the drain but seperate (this was the initial suspect for my leak, but turned out to be ok...). The main drain line was pressure tested and it holds pressure just fine at 10 psi, so it looks like the drain line is good (thank God)! So I am thinking about replacing/updating the main drain itself and that means moving to a modern PVC type box and should hopefully stop the leak.

Now my question. I noticed that the new PVC main drain boxes have built-in hydrostatic valves. Should I have the pool company "fill in" my old hockey puck style hydrostatic valve opening with cement and plaster, and use the new spring loaded one that comes in the PVC main drain box, or should I continue with the hockey puck style one? The water table is not very high where I live but I guess it was high enough to warrent a hydrostatic valve to begin with... I live in the northeast. I don't like the idea of "all it takes is a grain of sand, running the vacuum over it, etc." and the valve can get stuck open (my current hockey puck style), but I am not sure how reliable the new spring loaded ones are... so any advice is appreciated! Does anybody have experiece with both kinds of hydrostatic valves and/or have rennovated an old style main drain before?

[Pool Clown]

Get the kind where you need to screw in or out the plug to close/open. You need to dive down to remove it, but it wont hang open.

Can't you just epoxy between the pipe and the gunite to stop the leak? Or am i missing something?

A good pool company should install a hydro pipe on all the pools they build, or remodel regardless of the water table.

Note: Your Pool company should be able to answer your questions.

[Tobuildapool]

Typically a HSRV was not installed (especially back in the 1980's) unless water was discovered on the dig. What you plan to replace the original one with depends on the need for one as soil conditions and the presence of water can vary from house to house. If a HSRV was installed originally, it would make sense that there was a reason why. I would consider installing a new one unless there is evidence to dictate otherwise. A reputable pool company should be able to advise as inspection of the site can further define some options and recommendations.

[Pool Clown]

Typically a HSRV was not installed (especially back in the 1980's) unless water was discovered on the dig. What you plan to replace the original one with depends on the need for one as soil conditions and the presence of water can vary from house to house. If a HSRV was installed originally, it would make sense that there was a reason why. I would consider installing a new one unless there is evidence to dictate otherwise. A reputable pool company should be able to advise as inspection of the site can further define some options and recommendations.

Like i said, a good pool company will install one regardless I used to make those (as a kid) for the company that my dad worked for back in the late 60's- early 70's. So they were used back then. They cost pennies to make, and have the potential to save thousands. So there is no reason not to put one in every pool!