Leaking Water From Pipes?

[CitznFish]

Hello,

I am new to owning a pool and I think mine may be leaking under ground some where.

The water level of my pool will drop 1" every night when the filter runs. If I do not run the filter the water level doesn't drop at all. The pool is over 25 years old and was re-plastered 12-16 years ago according to the previous owners.

I have pool covers on the pool and I haven't seen much in the way of evaporation, but if I am losing an inch of water per night then it's got to be leaking somewhere, right?

I do not see any wet soil, or leaks from any of the pipes that are above ground.

Is there a way to seal the pipes that are under ground? Will this require me to tear up the brick/concrete to fix?

I've shut my filter off for the past 4 days and the water level has remained constant.

any ideas/help on how to proceed or fix this would be appreciated! Thank you.

[CitznFish]

I would like to add that I pull water from the pool, circulate it to the spa, then it waterfalls back into the pool. I do notice that when the filter s running I'll get some air bubbles coming out of the return in the spa. Happens every 15-30 minutes..sometimes longer, sometimes quicker.

Additionally I don't have a skimmer, but a creepy crawley with a hose that connects directly to a pipe in the skimmer hole thing.

[Pathfinder]

Check you backwash line when you run the filter the head gasket may have cracked or misaligned and water is getting through to the backwash line.

[CitznFish]

Check you backwash line when you run the filter the head gasket may have cracked or misaligned and water is getting through to the backwash line.

I believe my backwash line just dumps out onto the ground. There is no wet spot or water near this.

I was thinking of trying this stuff. Does anyone have experience with it?

[wethead]

that wont work at ALL,

Sounds like there is a leak in the plumbing,

Could you tell me what type of filter system you have please.

[biggz]

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago when a pool company installed my fiberglass pool. In the end it was leaking at the left drain. When your pump is on the added pressure to your system allows you to see a significant loss of water, but your lossing water when its off as well. I noticed they checked the pool when the pump was not running and basically used the red penol dye that you check your ph with by dropping a couple of drops around the different fitting in the pool. If there's a leak the dye will drain towards the direction of the fitting. As I said we found my leak at the drain which unfortunately was approximately 6.5 feet deep and under the pool. My pool was under warranty, so I paid nothing to have them fix the leak. But that can be a costly problem. Here in Florida we have a low water table as well so a pump had to be setup to the expansion valves and constantly running before they was able to drain the pool down low enough to do the work. If not the pool would literally pop out the ground. You know float. If you do the penol test and see the dye draining toward a particular fitting you might save some bucks to start the digging yourself. Unfortunately this problem is not that ez to detect. I never used the liquid stop leak, but for all the work those men did to detect my leak, I know if they had that option they would have done that first. I hope this info wil help you. Good Luck

[doug mills]

The best course of action, if your pool builder won't respond and try to correct the problem, is to hire a leak detection firm to identify the source of the leak. This isn't the sort of problem you want to handle with a DIY attitude. Have a leak detection firm identify the source of the leak, and ask them for a referral for a competent swimming pool builder to repair the problem. You will be much better off having professionals fix this right the first time.

[advanced pool design]

A quick check might prove worthy of the time....

You say it only leaks when the pool is running? Carefully check all the joints around the spa spillover area, IE tile or marble grout joints. Look for missing grout and or cracks in the grout, or the tiles themselves. You might just get lucky and find the leak right off,(only leaks when water is spilling over), and believe me, I have found leaks in that area that have driven others crazy!

Reason I say this is because if the pool only leaks when its running, then it would stand to reason that it would still leak a little when its off because the pipes that are underground are still under a little pressure just from the pool water itself. And, if it was leaking above the ground, (above the level of the pool, you would see it.

Whenever I hear of a pool leaking like yours that is the first place I look, it can't hurt.....If you don't find it there, call a leak detection company as was already mentioned above....good luck.

[CitznFish]

Thank you for all your help so far. I did a little more investigating and if I pull water from the pool, run it through the filter (DE filter with 8 screens in a circular pattern, and return to the pool, the pool loses no water. Sometimes a little air comes out the return lie. However the spa will lose water , a few inches per night, and it will stop draining once it hits a lever of about 4-5 inches of water left in the spa.

I will avoid that snake oil stop leak stuff though and I guess I'll need a professional to help me?

[electronblue]

Thank you for all your help so far. I did a little more investigating and if I pull water from the pool, run it through the filter (DE filter with 8 screens in a circular pattern, and return to the pool, the pool loses no water. Sometimes a little air comes out the return lie. However the spa will lose water , a few inches per night, and it will stop draining once it hits a lever of about 4-5 inches of water left in the spa.

I will avoid that snake oil stop leak stuff though and I guess I'll need a professional to help me?

[/quo

ll

You may have a definite answer by having a proffessional conduct a pressure test. Its a method of plugging and isolating plumbing lines , then adding water pressure to find out weather there is a break.