How can I tell if my pool is leaking?

Sometimes swimming pool leaks can be very obvious. We have seen a swimming pool lose as much as 6 ft in one day. Others we've seen lose a foot or two and a single day. But what about the ones that lose a quarter inch a day or a half inch a day? Sometimes it could be very difficult to determine whether your pool is actually leaking or if the water is just evaporating. A normal pool loses anywhere from less than one inch to up to 2 in of water in a single week through normal evaporation. It depends on several different factors such as the time of year, the amount of wind, the type and number of water features, the size of the pool and many other factors.

So how do you tell whether it is normal evaporation or a leaking pool? The easiest way for a homeowner to test this is to do a bucket test. A bucket test is a simple measurement of comparison. All you have to do is first, make sure your pool is filled up to normal operating level on the water level and then get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with water. Put a few big rocks at the bottom to keep it from floating away and set it in your pool on the step. Next, make sure that the water inside the bucket is the same level as the water outside the bucket. Now just wait for a day or two or three and check the differences in the Bucket Level and the pool level. They should be the same. If they are not and the pool water is lower than the bucket water then that means you do have a leak. 

If you find that the pool water is lower than the bucket water then you may try a couple of different things to see what makes the pool leak the worst. Try turning off the pumps and let it sit for the same duration of time and see if it goes down any slower. Many times if it is a pressure side Plumbing Leak the water will leak much faster with the pumps on. You can also try different water features on and off or turning your spa off. This will help The Leak Detectors narrow down where your pool is leaking from. You may also consider allowing it to keep leaking with the pumps off until it stops. Usually the point at which the pool stops leaking is the point that it is actually leaking at. Just make sure that you don't let the water drain all the way out or even less than half. A swimming pool can pop up out of the ground if the water table is high enough. It's the water inside of the pool that makes it stay down.

We hope this helps you and identifying whether or not you have a leak in your pool. Attached below is a video showing how to do the bucket test. If you need any help at all please don't hesitate to give us a call.