What Is Causing My Pool To Lose Water So Quickly?

Most pools can be expected to lose a small amount of water daily due to filtering, evaporation and water splashing out of the pool. If you're losing several inches per day, however, there may be a leak in your pool or somewhere in your pool system. The first step is finding out whether you actually have a leak, and then it will be necessary to locate which part of the pool is leaking.

Do the Bucket Test

One method that is almost sure to reveal if you have a leak or not is the bucket test. Place an empty five-gallon paint bucket on one of the steps in your pool so that the top is not submerged. Weigh it down with a brick or rock. Fill the bucket with water until the water level inside the bucket is the same as the water level outside.

Let the bucket sit for 24 hours, then check on it again. If the water levels both inside and outside the bucket are the same, there is no leak. If the water level in the pool is lower, however, water is getting out that shouldn't be.

Find a Pool Leak with Food Dye

If a leak isn't immediately noticeable by water on the ground or damp areas around your pool, it can be hard to find just by looking. Food dye can help you see the movement of the water in your pool to see where water may be flowing out.

Put drops of food dye every few feet just inside the edge of your pool, and work your way around the whole perimeter. Take it slow so you can watch the dye as you put it in. It may not be immediately noticeable; if a leak is small and slow, it can take a few minutes for the dye to start moving in its direction.

This will only work in certain situations; if the leak is too deep or in another part of your system, you probably won't see much of an effect.

Look At Your Filter System

All of your pool's water, at some point, will cycle through the filtration system. The filter system isn't complex, but a leak could cause a large amount of water loss. There are multiple drains in your pool – the drain at the bottom and the skimmers. Find out where the pipes from these drains go and follow them to your filter, and look for any signs of damp ground as you go.

Examine Your Pool Accessories

If you have any water-powered pool accessories like a waterfall or water slide, make sure that there are no leaks in any of those systems. Also try shutting down any system that creates moving water for a few days to see if the problem improves; moving water evaporates more quickly than standing water, so you may simply be losing much of your water from your pool accessories.

Look For Unlikely Escape Methods

There is always a chance that your pool system is working perfectly and that water is still being removed too quickly. If you've done everything you can think of, it's time to consider external possibilities.

Wild animals looking for drinks sometimes view pools as a good source of water. If you want to keep an eye on your pool, consider an inexpensive security camera to record your pool area over the course of 24 hours.

If you've been filling up your swimming pool with a hose every day to combat the water loss, you may be unintentionally contributing to the problem. If you leave the end of the hose in the pool after you're done filling it up, you may accidentally create a siphon that starts moving water back out of the pool after you turn the hose off. Just to be safe, remove the hose when you're done filling the pool.

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