Simple ways for swimming pool leak detection

Leaks in swimming pools, is difficult to detect especially because the reducing level of water can be ignored as evaporation or humidity. Water loss due to evaporation and humidity can amount up to around 2 inches every week in a moderate climate. But if you notice your pool suffering a loss in water level greater than 2 inches, then you need to check for pool leakage.

Pools are made watertight but over time and use, the sealants used will wear out and parts of the pool would meet with erosion. Leaks can start through disorders in fittings or accessories or due to wear and tear of plumbing. A simple procedure to check if there is a leak is to keep a bucket of water on your swimming pool steps, with the top of the bucket just below the water level. Now observe for a few days and note whether the level in the bucket and the pool are same. If not, that means your pool has a leak. Once you have confirmed your swimming pool has a leak, the next step is to find where the leakage is happening.

Tips to find the leakage

Fill the pool with water to its normal level and mark the level with duct tape. Keep the filter system working for around 12-24 hours and then measure the quantity of water lost. Now, refill the pool again to the normal level and do the same thing again for the same duration of time, but with the filter system switched off. his should be done at the same time of the day when you drained the pool previously, and then measure the loss of water again. Comparing the two measurements, if you find that more amount of water is lost when the filter system was running, then it means in the pressure side of the plumbing, a little past the impeller of the pump, is the source of the leak.

In case the water loss is less when the filter system is not working, then the leak is at the vacuum side of the plumbing, before the impeller. If you notice that the amount of water lost is same in both cases, then that means the problem is with the pool’s structure and not with the plumbing. Look for cracks or tears in the flooring or the vinyl.

More often than not, this won’t be a naked leak on the filter system, meaning you won’t be able to see where the leak is coming from on a casual look. So in that case, have a look at the backwash line and the placement. Now you can call in the pros to do the job or you can handle it by yourself. If you are going for the latter, then you have to pressure test the lines first, then dig and check the leaking line till you reach the source. The process will save you time if you call in the pros as they use what is known as geophones to find to the leak. Once they find it, they will only dig at the required place.

Before you do this, switch off the pump for an hour. Then if you see any cracks on the walls, squeeze some food colouring near it. If the colour is sucked into the crack, it means there is a leak from there. Patch up the crack and try the process again as see if the leak persists.