Pool Leaking

[WarpSpeed]

I had noticed something else about your system but hadn't give it much digestion until now.

The pump is plumbed in with an MTA (Male Threaded Adapter) in the front and no doubt in the top as well and it looks as if they used Teflon tape instead of a good pipe dope to seal the threads. This should have been a schedule 80 tapered nipple instead and once your pump is running it will leak air into the pump likely so if you have air intrusion when it's running this will likely be the cause but at minimum the first place to begin.. You can test if it sucks air before plumbing by putting some glue around the outside and observing to see if it effects the air in the system dramatically, it may get sucked in pretty quickly so watch closely.

If it does you may be able to use some pipe dope around it to seal it as glue will not bond at all to the pump plastic (fortunately) but this is only temporary at best and messy at worst as when the pump shuts off the water inside being pumped equalizes suddenly and then momentarily pressure comes back forcefully and will blow out any sealer you put in place so it does need to be replumbed, it's unavoidable..

You can see this phenomena when a quick burst of water comes out of the pot lid seal at shut down. The previously forward pressure, backflows instantly and then it all returns to a slight vacuum afterwards but for that instant the entire system is under pressure.

The top fitting may leak water but not necessarily, though usually it does because the steam rises and this is even hotter then in the pot being directly over the impeller. In the old days this would have been a catastrophic pump melt down requiring a new pump but thanks to Sta-rite and new thermal plastics technology now damage is reduced to a minimum but the pump shaft seal may also become a victim as it has rubber seals on it so be aware of any leaks underneath the motor that do not seem to have an origin.

This is all a byproduct of the same pool leak as often at some point the pump ran dry when it came on automatically in the morning due to the water level dropping or too much air preventing the pump from priming, so it never does. This grows exponentially to create more of a problem the more damage is done and the more air that is introduced.

If you look closely the MTA may be distorted a bit out of shape due to the high temps that the water inside the trap got to. The water in the trap will literally get to a boiling point since it is not getting any cool water to cool it with and then it steams the pipe to melting point and the glue also loosens, the tell tail sign of this happening is often the condensation you see on the inside of the lid as in your picture (not in all cases mind you but in most cases).

Then when it does get some cool water flow the pipe goes from heated expansion to cooling shrinkage and the pump can go through this process numerous times but it really only takes it one time for damage to be done and from there on in it's worse every time..

[WarpSpeed]

So Farang how about an update??

[David006]

my inground pool is leaking. my plan is to just wait and see where the water stops at. however, if the leak is at the bottom (a crack i have not found) is there a risk of the pool popping out of the ground? would i have to drill relief holes? how low can the pool drain before it could pop out of the ground?

until the water level in the ground pops it up. if the water drains = no pop-up.

most pools should have a screw capped relief hole in the bottom under a plastic twist of cover to stop potential floating...just unscrew and leave open when pool empty...

[WarpSpeed]

my inground pool is leaking. my plan is to just wait and see where the water stops at. however, if the leak is at the bottom (a crack i have not found) is there a risk of the pool popping out of the ground? would i have to drill relief holes? how low can the pool drain before it could pop out of the ground?

until the water level in the ground pops it up. if the water drains = no pop-up.

most pools should have a screw capped relief hole in the bottom under a plastic twist of cover to stop potential floating...just unscrew and leave open when pool empty...

No don't do that, you should have read more of the thread as he doesn't have a leak in the bottom and the pool in question is in Florida with high static water levels if he did until it actually drained completely which would not be advisable he should not remove the hydrostatic plug alone..

Edited March 30, 2012 by WarpSpeed

[David006]

my inground pool is leaking. my plan is to just wait and see where the water stops at. however, if the leak is at the bottom (a crack i have not found) is there a risk of the pool popping out of the ground? would i have to drill relief holes? how low can the pool drain before it could pop out of the ground?

until the water level in the ground pops it up. if the water drains = no pop-up.

most pools should have a screw capped relief hole in the bottom under a plastic twist of cover to stop potential floating...just unscrew and leave open when pool empty...

No don't do that, you should have read more of the thread as he doesn't have a leak in the bottom and the pool in question is in Florida with high static water levels if he did until it actually drained completely which would not be advisable he should not remove the hydrostatic plug alone..

think I said when the pool is empty.?...never mind..

.....strange that the OP cannot find far more help and advice in the US..gotta be a million blogs out there....

[WarpSpeed]

until the water level in the ground pops it up. if the water drains = no pop-up.

most pools should have a screw capped relief hole in the bottom under a plastic twist of cover to stop potential floating...just unscrew and leave open when pool empty...

No don't do that, you should have read more of the thread as he doesn't have a leak in the bottom and the pool in question is in Florida with high static water levels if he did until it actually drained completely which would not be advisable he should not remove the hydrostatic plug alone..

think I said when the pool is empty.?...never mind..

.....strange that the OP cannot find far more help and advice in the US..gotta be a million blogs out there....

Well actually the OP is not the one in Florida as I understand that's just where the thread ended up with another poster seeking answers, which is another reason it's important if not oft times boring and time consuming to read more and get a better sense of the thread content..

Edited March 31, 2012 by WarpSpeed

[David006]

Well actually the OP is not the one in Florida as I understand that's just where the thread ended up with another poster seeking answers, which is another reason it's important if not oft times boring and time consuming to read more and get a better sense of the thread content..

Yeah a bit boring to scroll through the whole thread..nevertheless the WWW still has lots of answers....better I leave it to the experts on TV methinks...beer is probably about to explode in freezer ...lol

[phuketkenny]

Grout is never a barrier to water. If the pool is leaking, almost 90% of the time, its in the piping. Every now and then, we get a structural leak, but this is extremely rare even in the worst possible construction. Best to drain, pressure test all piping works.

Best,

Gil

I have a 9M x 3M x1.5M pool, losing one tile ( about 4 inches ) of water a day.

It used to leak through the spider filter as sand pebbles from the sandwash deck would get into the

filter and create bubbles or pits where the water could leak out. I finally got tired of removing the head and cleaning it out and I can not find a replacement seal for it here in Phuket.

But now I have a new problem. I was going out of town for a few days and asked the staff to shock the pool with chlorine. I am guessing they did not buy chlorine but hydrochloric acid from some one as when I returned the pH level was extremely acidic. I added 22 pounds of soda ash but it did not seem to make any difference. The grout is now very soft and crumbles at the touch. To add to the

confusion as to the source of the leak, we had an earthquake here which moved the ground the same week. I closed all the valves once I saw it was losing a tile a day and I have been waiting to see where the water level will stop dropping. I capped the main drain at the bottom of the pool and the water is now below all return lines, lights, etc. and still dropping.

I am pretty much convinced at this point it is leaking through the grout as I can see no clear sign of a break, crack or water movement.

So, the question is, is it possible to lose this much water a day through the grout?

If so, can you recommend a grout to fix this problem? Do I need to remove all the old grout?

Finally, could you do this job?

Advice welcome.

[Coaster11]

well i got rubber plugs and it is not the piping. that leaves the light and the drain. i can see that the light niche was previously wrapped with epoxy. at the base of the cord, where it meets the expoxy mountain, it appears to be separating. however, when i spray some food coloring it really does not appear to get sucked in at all.

so that only leaves the drain. i have search the pool for cracks and none exist.

if the pool is leaking from the drain wont that make it very risky that the pool pops out as the ground becomes more filled with water and the pool lighter?

Hi,

Can you tell me where you got the rubber plugs from?

[canman]

i hate to burst the "bucket" bubble but i can't help it. water in a bucket under equal conditions such as sun radiation and ambient temperatur will always evaporate faster than water in an inground pool provided that the poolpump is not working and therefore the surface not moving.

reason:

the bucket water will heat up to a higher temperature than the water in an inground pool with the walls not exposed to higher air temperature than the soil. higher temperature = higher differential water temp / air temp causes higher evaporation. even the above ground pool the OP described will not heat up as fast as the water in a bucket.

by the way, the "PoolDoctor" was right with his claim "considerable loss of water because of defective seal 5-way valve". it happened to me in my former home years ago.

True; but the trick is to put the bucket in the pool. Put the bucket on one of the pool steps, weigh it down with a brick, fill with water to the same level as the pool, observe over time.

[WarpSpeed]

i hate to burst the "bucket" bubble but i can't help it. water in a bucket under equal conditions such as sun radiation and ambient temperatur will always evaporate faster than water in an inground pool provided that the poolpump is not working and therefore the surface not moving.

reason:

the bucket water will heat up to a higher temperature than the water in an inground pool with the walls not exposed to higher air temperature than the soil. higher temperature = higher differential water temp / air temp causes higher evaporation. even the above ground pool the OP described will not heat up as fast as the water in a bucket.

by the way, the "PoolDoctor" was right with his claim "considerable loss of water because of defective seal 5-way valve". it happened to me in my former home years ago.

True; but the trick is to put the bucket in the pool. Put the bucket on one of the pool steps, weigh it down with a brick, fill with water to the same level as the pool, observe over time.

But only 24 hours of time any more and too many variables are thrown into the mix rain, someone filled the pool, etc. and in 24 hours all will be told.. Edited September 12, 2012 by WarpSpeed