Pool Leak from Liner, piping or what??

[Pectin]

We moved in to an old place [23 yrs old] with a 16 x 32 [22,000 gal] pool. Somehow during the day the water dropped to 6 inches. I was thinking the pool had a leak but when I filled it up again today [with all 3 skimmers on - top, bottom and side jets] the water fell to only about 1 inch or so... where is the problem actually. Also behind the yard there were quite a lot of sand [obviously I think from the Pool [hayward] filter. I did not see the sand initially coming. I had an algae problem and backwashed a few time and also did a rinse for over 2 weeks. Pool is getting more clearer now to almost as before, I went under did the "dye" test and remained still but could not find the leak. I may have missed some but in the night I saw no bubbles etc coming up. I check all the skimmers, piping, etc but nothing amiss. What is happening? Is it a liner leak, piping, or when I was running the Barracuda G3 all day 24/7 for the past 7-8 days straight that caused the leak then?

[Walter]

It can be a few things, check your multiport gasket first to make sure it isn't letting water pass. Do you have a booster pump pipe and if so does this run the same time the water lowers? You have to elimate each skimmer to make sure it isn't one of those. Shut the drain off and run just skimmer, go down? if so then reverse it shut skimmer and leave main drain on, go down? If so might be in returns, shut the pool down and it waters doesn't go down the normal evaporation rate then it might be a cracked pipe that opens when water is pressurized thru the pipes. Good Luck

[mr_clean]

you can start by filling pool to normal level & shutoff pool equipment for a day. If pool water goes down wait and see if it levels off below anything like pool light, skimmer, return-line, then you would know where water is leaking out. If it just keeps going down and does not stop, it could be holes in liner at bottom or main drain if you have one. You can get water goggles and inspect liner for holes.
If no water is lost, then it's pipes or equipment that is leaking when running pump. You can check equipment, anything after pump would leak water and if pipe before pump leaked your pump basket would normally have air in it and return lines would blow air when running.
If you do not loose water when pump is off, equipment does not leak, and no air bubbles I would suggest calling a leak specialist to test pipes.
Do you see any wet dirt if any around pool? Do you have any water behind liner causing bubbles? This could also tell you where problem area is.