pin holes

[korebody]

Good morning,

I have a leak some where in my pool but have yet determined where. During the summer, squirrels would place there feet on the upper sides of the liner to get a quick drink. I personally think this is the problem but do not know where to start to detect...any ideas??? I can fill the pool up to the middle of the skimmer and about 7 days later I am adding water, not much but about an inch. I would love to fix this problem prior to opening the pool for the summer...any suggestions?

Thanks,

KoreBody

[ChuckGeo]

Sounds like you have a small hole (or holes) in your liner. The best way to find them is to put a diver in the pool and visually inspect the liner. Small holes will typically attract bits of debris and algae to them and will form a small bud of debris over the hole. As you swim over the bottom, gently wave your hand to sweep away the loose dirt on the bottom, anything that doesn't move is suspect as a leak. Brush away the stuck debris and dye test any holes.
Keep in mind that a 1" per week leak is VERY small and could be hard to find. In my business (leak detection) we won't look for a leak that is 1/8" or less per day - it's just not worth it.
Good luck.

Chuck

[Ray1031]

I have to agree with Chuckgeo on this one. Losing an inch of water in six days is not really indicative of a leak. I have been a pool repair technician for over 25 years her in Michigan and have seen pools easily lose up to 1/4" per day just in evaporation. There is 'always' some water lose to evaporation - even in a covered swimming pool. You mentioned squirrels and I find it unlikely that they will be the problem. Most animals, squirrels included, do not put their paws into the water itself when they drink. If you are concerned though, look closely at the liner where they usually drink (both above and below the water line) for any potential leaks and test them with either food coloring or the red PH testing dye from your test kit. (NOTE: if you use the red dye from your test kit - you can never trust it again for an accurate ph test. buy a new replacement for your test kit if you use the one you have).

I do, however, disagree that you need to test all of the way to the pool floor. Any leak, even the smallest, near the floor of the pool will cost you more than 1/8" per day. From your note, your are not using the pool at this time of year but are interested in being sure before the new season begins. In that event - stop refilling it, check it and mark it daily - a pencil mark on the plastic faceplate is good until you fall below the skimmer opening. Once below the opening - a grease pencil - or crayon mark can do as well. This way, you can gauge the amount of loss per day - and whether it slows as it gets lower (a good indicator that there actually "is" a leak). A true liner/surface leak is always faster in a full pool than when the water gets closer to the hole - Greater water pressure pushing against the water leaving - the less water - the less the pressure and the slower the leak ... especially with small holes. If the water suddenly stops going down and holds static for a few days - check the liner just above and below the water lever for a pinhole or tiny cut.

Still, I must admit, if your mentioned amounts are accurate - then it really sounds like evaporation to me.

Ray
Emett's Pool Service.

[Larry]

Try the bucket test.
Briefly: compare the water loss from a bucket of water with that from your pool.

You probably don't have a leak at all if you lose an inch a week in the summer. Here is a reference to an annual evaporation map that shows 50 - 60 inches evaporation per year for Ga.

. . . water will evaporate. You can get a rough idea for how much that will be by looking at this map to find the annual amount of evaporation in inches. Multiply that by your width and length of your pool in feet (i.e. it's surface area) to get a volume (cubic feet, if you divide the inches by 12) you can convert into gallons.