Do I have a leak in my pool?

[peggy]

I had a vinyl liner pool installed this past May. In the summer I knew it seemed like I was adding alot of water, but being a new pool owner I had no clue how much water I was suspose to be adding. The pool company that installed my pool said it was probably normal due to evaporation, which made sense. But now I have been dealing with this problem for nine months. My pool is still loosing a half-inch or more a day. They pulled the liner up and found one small pin hole close to the step and fixed it. They have also pulled the light out twice and said they plugged it. It is still leaking I think. The pool has lost three inches in five days and the weather has been very cold. Another friend had the same type pool installed at the same time as I did and she only lives right across the street. She told me she hasn't had to add water in six weeks to her pool. The company is now doing their 5th or 6th bucket test which only proves that the pool is leaking, but they are still trying to tell me it is from evaporation. My warranty runs out in May. Help

[muss08]

You definitely have a leak. If not the liner then in the plumbing.

[ChuckGeo]

You've definitely got a leak. In order to determine if it's in the liner or the plumbing a set of water loss measurements are required. Fill the pool up to it's normal level, mark the level - I use a pencil to mark a line on the skimmer face plate - run the pump for 24 hours then measure and record the loss. Refill the pool to the mark and turn the pump off for 24 hours, measure the loss and record. Any loss over 1/8" is significant. If the loss is the same whether the pump is on or off there is a non plumbing leak, suspect liner, light niche/conduit, around drop in steps, in the skimmer body or throat (face plate gaskets). If the loss is more when on than off suspect the return line, pressure cleaner line or out the backwash line. If you find that the loss is less when on than off suspect skimmer, main drain or suction cleaner line.
Hope this helps.
Chuck

[Guest]

Thank you for the great advice Chuck. It seems so logical now but I never woulda guessed this method to tell if the leak is from the pool or the plumbing.