How To Know When Your Pool Is Losing Too Much Water and How To Treat It
Pools lose water gradually, so water-loss can often be left undetected until it escalates into a serious problem. It’s natural for pools to lose water due to evaporation, varying in speed depending on the humidity, temperature, wind conditions, use of pool heater, or the rate of use of the pool. Losing a little bit of water does not affect your pool condition. It only becomes an issue when it’s losing too much water, in the form of a pool leak. Here are some ways to help you identify the source of the leak and how to best treat it.A simple way to find out yourself if you have a leak in your pool is with a bucket. First fill up the bucket with water and place it on the steps of your pool. Make sure the top of the bucket is above water level. Since your pool and the bucket is faced with the same temperature and weather conditions, their water loss should be identical. So check back in a few days to see if it holds true. If you can see a visible difference, your pool is most likely leaking. If there’s no difference, the leak is probably somewhere else.
Before you can fix the leak, you first need to identify the root cause. Measure the difference in water loss between letting your pool filters run for a day and keeping the filter system off. If you detect more water loss when the filter is on, then the leak is on the pressure side of the plumbing system behind the impeller of the pump. If you detect more water loss when the filter is off, then the leak is on the vacuum side of the plumbing system before the impeller of the pump. However if you lose the same amount of water is both cases, the leak may be from your actual swimming pool.
For leaks caused by structural problems, you can squeeze food colouring around the cracks and the colour will naturally pinpoint the leak. If at this point, you still haven’t identified any leaks, call your local professionals right away. Now that you’ve identified the leak, you can fix it. The most common leaks are skimmer leaks, which can be solved with pool putty. Liner leaks can also be fixed on your own by patching them up with a vinyl liner patch kit. For more serious leaks, you should consult professionals to accurately asses the situation and come up with a solution.
Leaks may appear anywhere from the surface of your pools, to the lighting, to the pool deck. Some are easy to detect and fix on your own, but some require professional attention. If you have more questions and concerns, feel free to book an appointment today at Seaway Pools & Hot Tubs. We have expert staff that know the ins and outs of pool leaks and the best way to solve them. Don’t hesitate to contact us at 905-294-8030, or on our toll free number 1-888-494-8030, or by email at online@seawaypoolsntubs.com.