Inground Pool Leak first 4", can you figure it out?

[tripflex]

Alright, so after purchasing a bank owned house, spending $500 to have a company drain the pool and fill it back up. I have now found out that i also have a leak somehow. So again, my pool is now becoming green because the water level has gone below the skimmer.

Here are some measurements i took:
10/21 - 1 3/4" from top of pool
10/22 - 4" from top of pool
10/23 - 4 1/2" from top of pool


The pool drained the most the first day when i filled it all the way up. After that it seemed like it might be normal evaporation, but i'm not too sure. It seems im losing about 1/4" a day, which since i live in Florida, i'm on a lake, and do not have a screened enclosure.

It's an in-ground pool on the lake. It's 3 feet deep in the shallow end and 8ft in the deep end.




I tried using food coloring around each jet, and the pool light to see if i could see the coloring draining, but couldn't find anything. So now it makes me wonder if it might be in the tiles.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks!!

[ChuckGeo]

Does it leak the same amount whether the pump is on or off? If the amount is greater or less when the pump is on, you could have a plumbing leak, if it's the same either way suspect around a fitting, skimmer throat or cracked skimmer, light conduit or inside the niche, main drain sump, hydrostat, or a crack in the structure. Does it stop leaking at the bottom of the tile line or does the level continue to drop below the tile?
1/4" loss per day is not too terrible, you're probably loosing half (1/8") to evaporation.
given that it leaked rapidly when full then tapered off as the water level dropped, I'd concentrate on the tile border and skimmer & throat.
Let me know how it goes.

[Guest]

Hey Tripflex

You should really get some chemicals in the pool while you're figuring out where the leak is or you'll end up spending major $$s to balance the water later.

Doob

[mas985]

Your part of the country averages about 60" per year in evaporation. That works out to be about 5/32" per day but it depends on the time of year, temperature and wind. So you aren't too far off. I would do a bucket test to make sure.

[czechmate]

Are you sure you did not put too much of that food coloring in this pool? Somebody must have......

[Pool Clown]

As noted above, I would start at the skimmer throat where the skimmer joins up with the tile. Does it leak down to the bottom of the throat then slow?