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Pool Leak Detection in Charleston – Don’t Let a Small trouble Become a large One

Have you observed that you appear to be counting up a lot extra water than usual to your pool? Has your climate not been abnormally dried up or warm? Do you find yourself adding water more frequently than you used to? Do you at times wonder if you have a leak? If these suspicions begin to cloud your mind, then you need to do the bucket test. Get a utility bucket and place it in your pool somehow (on the steps of an in-ground pool works well). Add water to the bucket until both the water level inside the bucket and the water level of the pool outside the bucket are the same. Mark off both water levels on the bucket itself and wait 24 hours. If the water level of the pool (outside the bucket) has gone down below the water level inside the bucket, then you have a leak (if both are the same, then that is simply evaporation).

There are a few signs that can help you identify a leak as well as the potential source of the pool leak detection. Some are obvious, such as if there are any visible cracks anywhere in the pool itself, or if the deck itself is changing its level relative to the pool.

Unless you know how to precisely locate and repair pool leaks, you should hire a professional pool company to find and repair that leak for you. But in the meantime, there are a couple things you can do to try to narrow down the source of the leak. First, walk around the pool deck and the area beyond the deck. Do you see any wet spots? Is the ground beyond the pool soft and mushy? Does it look like an area of grass or plants is not doing as well as the rest of your landscaping? These are suspicious signs.

Next, shut off the filter and pool pumps and do the bucket test again. Is there still an obvious leak? You can take all of the results of this investigation and present it to the pool company representative when they visit.

You should clean your pool before the pool leak detection in Charleston company shows up. Having debris and other material in the pool can actually cause holes to be missed because it can cover up the leak. And the team who came out to check your pool is there to check for leaks, not to clean the pool for you!

Pool Leak Detection and Inspection in Charleston

The standard protocol for checking for a pool leak includes something called the “bucket test” as well as a basic inspection of the deck and landscaping around your pool. If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably already done these.
Fortunately, there are a couple more things you can do before talking to a professional pool leak detection company. You can repeat the bucket test again, but this time with your pool filters and pumps switched off. After 24 hours, is the water level lopsided again? Note whether there are any changes from the previous bucket test.
You can also get into the pool and carefully inspect all cracks, seams, and linings in the pool. Be sure to also take a close look at any o-rings and plugs while you are in there. This will take some time, particularly with a large pool, but will save you some money if you can successfully find the leak. When you suspect a particular area, put a very small amount of dye into the pool next to the suspected leak. Is the dye sucked right into the crack/seam/etc? Then you’ve found your leak.
Don’t stop there, however! Just in case there is more than one leak, continue your inspection of the pool until you have the entire pool covered.
If you do not find anything, then chances are good that your pool equipment (filter, pumps, and the like) is to blame. Make an appointment with a professional pool company and when they arrive, you need to thoroughly discuss all your investigation details and any findings with the pool company. If you think you may forget any details, write everything down! What you find and note is valuable information for the pool company representative. They will also want to know some basic information about your pool setup, such as if your equipment is above or below ground, if it leaks more with the filter on or off, and how much water it loses in a day (if you know).
There is another method of testing for leaks that involves using dye. Dye testing can be used to identify leaks in the structure of the pool. This test works on the following principle: the tester squirts a bit of dye near the area of the suspected leak. If there is no leak, the dye will just sit there in the water. If a leak is present, however, the dye will be pulled out. It’s a simple test that can be useful when you know that the plumbing is not responsible for the leak.
Pool leak detection Charleston, if not repaired in a timely manner, can continue to cause more damage. For example, a small crack today can over time become a large crack as water and debris continue to fill it and cause it to expand. An analogy would be to think of a crack in a sidewalk that doesn’t get repaired, and over time it becomes bigger and bigger as rain and other factors damage it.
Also keep in mind that if you have a crack, it is going to be filling with water and potentially allowing water to go places where it shouldn’t be. In a worst case scenario, this may mean that in addition to structural damage, there may be equipment and mechanical damage as well.

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