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Old 10-18-2016, 01:26 PM
 
179 posts, read 343,877 times
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Now that the summer "monsoons" seem to have come to an end (for now), I have noticed that my pool dropped about 1 inch in 3 days. That seems high, and am wondering if there might be a leak. It has been sunny and fairly breezy recently ... almost perfect evaporation weather, so might be just evaporation. ... But an inch in 3 days still seems like a lot. Is this an unusual drop in such a short time? What do the rest of you get for water level drops during the dry times? How much drop over what period of days?

Thanks!
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Old 10-18-2016, 03:50 PM
 
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I re-measured very carefully, and it was down 7/8 -inch, and not a full inch. The "rule of thumb" is that evaporation can be "as much as" 1/4 -inch per day on high evaporation days. That would be a maximum of 3/4-inch in 72 hours, and I've lost slightly more than that during the 72 hours. Might not be a problem, but still curious what numbers others have experienced? I'm doing the "bucket test" now to see if the water in the bucket drops as fast as the pool. If they are the same rate of drop, it's just evaporation. If pool drops quicker, there is some leakage. If bucket drops faster, you need to tell your dog to stop drinking the water from the bucket!

Thanks!
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Old 10-18-2016, 03:56 PM
 
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I would like an answer to this as well. We live in Georgia and I've noticed over the past week a drastic drop in water. We finally turned off the pump and are letting it do what it must to see if there is a leak.

One week ago, I had filled the pool to within 2in of the top of the skimmer opening, and now it is below the skimmer housing.
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Old 10-18-2016, 04:17 PM
 
Location: Cape Coral
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It sounds about normal. I lose a lot to evaporation. I have two waterfalls that probably don't help and the water is warmer than the air with the solar heater. I fill my pool with well water so it doesn't bother me too much.
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Old 10-18-2016, 04:27 PM
 
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Do the bucket test. Get a bucket put painters tape on the inside and outside, put bucket in shallow area like on the steps of pool use the water from the pool to fill the bucket enough so it doesn't float, mark the level of the water on the tape with a marker on both the inside and outside turn off the pool equipment wait 24 hrs. Measure the lines if both levels drop around the same say around 1/8" to 1/4" its evaporation. If the outside drops more than the inside you probably have a leak somewhere.
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Old 10-18-2016, 04:52 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JH64 View Post
Do the bucket test. Get a bucket put painters tape on the inside and outside, put bucket in shallow area like on the steps of pool use the water from the pool to fill the bucket enough so it doesn't float, mark the level of the water on the tape with a marker on both the inside and outside turn off the pool equipment wait 24 hrs. Measure the lines if both levels drop around the same say around 1/8" to 1/4" its evaporation. If the outside drops more than the inside you probably have a leak somewhere.
I started the bucket test a little earlier today. I used hose water rather than pool water to fill the bucket. Not sure if that will make much difference. I did not turn off the pump. Let me know if this test logic makes sense. ... If it's leaking in the piping when the pump runs, I want that to show up in the test, right? So, I'm testing with pump on. If no difference in drop in the bucket test, then no leak, and I'm good. If there is a difference (a leak), then I'll run the test again with pump off to see if it is related to pump/piping. If no leak with pump off, then it's likely pump/piping. That sound about right? Otherwise, if I do the test with the pump off on the first round and find no leak, I still won't know if there is no leak in the pump/piping system until I do a test with pump on. But, if I do a test with pump on during the first round, and there is no leak, then I won't even need to do a second round. Hope that makes sense. ??
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Old 10-18-2016, 04:58 PM
 
179 posts, read 343,877 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rikoshaprl View Post
It sounds about normal. I lose a lot to evaporation. I have two waterfalls that probably don't help and the water is warmer than the air with the solar heater. I fill my pool with well water so it doesn't bother me too much.

Thanks. I'm going to take careful measurements, as well as do a bucket test, over the next several days.
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Old 10-18-2016, 06:17 PM
 
54 posts, read 67,130 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Living the Florida Dream View Post
I started the bucket test a little earlier today. I used hose water rather than pool water to fill the bucket. Not sure if that will make much difference. I did not turn off the pump. Let me know if this test logic makes sense. ... If it's leaking in the piping when the pump runs, I want that to show up in the test, right? So, I'm testing with pump on. If no difference in drop in the bucket test, then no leak, and I'm good. If there is a difference (a leak), then I'll run the test again with pump off to see if it is related to pump/piping. If no leak with pump off, then it's likely pump/piping. That sound about right? Otherwise, if I do the test with the pump off on the first round and find no leak, I still won't know if there is no leak in the pump/piping system until I do a test with pump on. But, if I do a test with pump on during the first round, and there is no leak, then I won't even need to do a second round. Hope that makes sense. ??
I think you should use the water from the pool a different water will evaporate differently. I thing with the pump turned off you can tell if the pool itself has the leak vs the plumbing. Ether way pump on first then pump off you should be able to figure it out. Good luck hope its something simple.
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Old 10-18-2016, 09:59 PM
 
179 posts, read 343,877 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JH64 View Post
I think you should use the water from the pool a different water will evaporate differently. I thing with the pump turned off you can tell if the pool itself has the leak vs the plumbing. Ether way pump on first then pump off you should be able to figure it out. Good luck hope its something simple.
Thanks. I started the test over with pool water. Also, the dang bucket was leaking!!! Water in bucket was down a few inches in a few hours! So, new bucket and pool water this time. I'll probably compare it each day for a few days to get a better sense of what's up. From what I've read so far, the amount of loss in the pool is not that much more than what can be attributed to evaporation in these weather conditions. Hope that is all.
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Old 10-19-2016, 07:17 AM
 
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I would also suggest putting the bucket in the pool, say on a step if your pool has one. This will keep the water at the same temp as the pool. You want to simulate the pool in the bucket as much as possible. I had a leak in my pool last year. I was losing about an inch per day. Over time I noticed the water level never went any lower than the skimmer (which will burn out your pump). The leak turned out to be the skimmer throat (plastic). It was a pretty easy fix. If you need to have a pro look at it I highly recommend Hydroscout. Very reasonable, fair, pro!
I have a small pool, but an inch a day = 70+ gallons/day. It adds up$$$$.
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