Pool evaporation or leak in the current Tampa Bay climate (cool nights and dry) (Palm Harbor: how much, tile)

[The Villages Guy]

I have an 8500 gallon pool with a small spillover spa. I have notice more water being lost now that it is dryer out and colder at night. I shut off the pump so I could see how much water was lost in the spa and the pool separately. I am losing about a 1/2" inch in the main pool per day and just under 1/8" inch in the spa per day. The pool gets a good amount of sun all day and is not covered. I am not heating the spa. The spa probably gets more shade than the main pool does.

How much are you losing to evaporation this time of year in your pool and do you lose less in the smaller spa? Is it normal to lose more in the main pool?

Can you recommend anyone near the Palm Harbor area to do a thorough leak test and how much can I expect that to cost? It may be a good time to remarcite the pool if I do have a leak. I wonder how much that would cost?

[thession]

Give these guys a call American Leak Detection 727-821-leak Reasonable and they know what they are doing.

try this first....Bucket test....the info you gather will be of great help. Also you could allow the water to continue draining until you see a noticeable leveling off of water levels. Most times it is the light kit that is leaking. Hope this helps. Happy New Year

[Pragmaticus]

See volume is surface area times depth, so it is very difficult to say the 0.5in is big deal or not. For my pool and for most pools, I think that is significant.

Evaporation from pools or from open water, for that matter, is a function of many things including radiation, humidity, wind speed and so one. But to give you a ball park number open water evaporation in Florida (average over long term) is about 56 inches PER YEAR. So, your 0.5inch per day is way too high for evaporation to account for it. Also, remember we are now in the lowest evaporation time of the year. Think evaporation as a bell curve that starts in January and picks in summer and get back to where it is in December.

Bottom line, you appear to have a leak to have that much water lost that fast.

[The Villages Guy]

I tried the dye test near all the inlets, skimmer and lights, with no dye being drawn in. I couldn't get to the floor drains, as the water is too cold.

I am now doing the bucket test, per the above recommendation.

The pool measures about 12 x 20, so according to the chart I am losing 75 gallons a day.

How much does the American Leak Detection charge to do a leak test?

I have also read that we actually lose more water to evaporation at this time of year here, as the combination of dry air and temperature drops at night creat a better environment for evaporation that summertime with lower temperature drops and already saturated air.....not to mention rainfall in the summer helps replenishes the loss.

[ESPLUMBING]

A lot of people are having the same thing happen, Pool evaporation in the current Tampa Bay climate is your answer. My mom lives in Palm Harbor, same issue, told her not to worry, but she called pinch a penny anyway, they told her not to worry. The extreme dry weather lately (low dew point) will evaporate the water at a much quicker rate.. how this helps

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by ESPLUMBING

A lot of people are having the same thing happen, Pool evaporation in the current Tampa Bay climate is your answer. My mom lives in Palm Harbor, same issue, told her not to worry, but she called pinch a penny anyway, they told her not to worry. The extreme dry weather lately (low dew point) will evaporate the water at a much quicker rate.. how this helps

Thank you Eric.

I have another question, off topic, and I will PM you.

[Pragmaticus]

0.5 inches per day is just too much. There is no way you can loose that much for evaporation no matter what.

Here is summary for pan evaporation (the closest to your pool open water) data for Florida

Southeast Water Climate - A service of the Southeast Climate Consortium - SE Water Climate provides tools to help water managers in the Southeastern United States understand and plan for climatic conditions

You either not correctly measuring the lose or you have a leak.

[kbrkr]

The easiest way to detect evaporation is to fill a bucket full of pool water and mark a line in the inside of the bucket where the level is. If the Level of the bucket drops with the pool level, you have evaporation caused by temperature changes. If the pool level decreases faster than the bucket, you have a leak.

Good Luck!

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by MeInDenudinFL

0.5 inches per day is just too much. There is no way you can loose that much for evaporation no matter what.

Here is summary for pan evaporation (the closest to your pool open water) data for Florida

Southeast Water Climate - A service of the Southeast Climate Consortium - SE Water Climate provides tools to help water managers in the Southeastern United States understand and plan for climatic conditions

You either not correctly measuring the lose or you have a leak.

The rim(?) tiles are 3" tall. I lose the height of the tile each week. I was losing less than half of that when the weather was more humid and warmer just a little while back.

Here is interesting info on evaporation when the air is dryer during the winter months. To my surprise, I have found this information everywhere. I don't know why this differs from the link you provided....but it does.

Aaron's Leak Detection

"Our winter season significantly more dry and windy than the rest of the year. This creates a perfect environment for evaporation in your pool. It's comparable to a sponge... a sopping wet one cannot absorb nearly as much water as a dry one."

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by thession

Give these guys a call American Leak Detection 727-821-leak Reasonable and they know what they are doing.

try this first....Bucket test....the info you gather will be of great help. Also you could allow the water to continue draining until you see a noticeable leveling off of water levels. Most times it is the light kit that is leaking. Hope this helps. Happy New Year

I did the bucket test and definitely have a leak. The bucket lost about 1/8" and the pool lost 1/2" in 24 hours.

I called American Leak Detection and they want $305 to detect the leak and then will charge an additional fee for a permanent repair. WOW! That is outrageous.