FORGOT TO SAY.....IM IN THE GOLDCOAST YELLOW PAGES UNDER POOL MAINTENANCE.......AD SAYS....

."" GOT A LEAK ""

DON'T FORGET ONLY TRUST A LICENCED PLUMBER....ALL THE BEST PLUMB....

Hi Plumber, sorry to ask for free advise but we have just had a new pool finished and straight away noticed the level of water dropping. At hand over we notified the pool company and they said no it was fine it was just the water in the pipes anyway we have solar and within a couple of days noticed it was obviously a leak. we are having to refill every other day to stop all the slurping and glugging noises from the filter. we are having it tested at the moment and the guy has left a ongoing test to check for evaporation. Is there anything we should be asking in terms of when they have located the leak? it leaks when the solar alone is on and also when the filter alone is on but more so with the solar. Thanks
S x
p.s forgot to say that a leak detector company are doing the tests and when I asked him today if he's found anything he just said that he hadn't finished checking. He is comingback tomorrow for his third visit.

ask the pool company to fit a non return valve on the pipe from the pool to the pump....worked for us.

if it has been windy weather the evapouration is shocking..u can almost see it going down.

Is your pump sited higher than the level of the water in the pool?

Yes, it's all situated together in an area that my hubbie has built a sort of brick shed around (the filter, pump etc and the solar pump and control panel etc.) The pool leaks around 50-70 ml in 48 hours)
S xx

hmmm that is a lot......is it concrete or fibreglass?

I visit lots of new pools , where the builders says its down to evaporation......

all i can say is if its over 10mms per week ...they're talking bull shit.....anything over that a week is a leak.....

non-return valve will make no difference.....

We would firstly pressure test your suction and return pipe work , using compressed air ....see if the pipework holds pressure....if ok , would move on to checking inside pool ie.......hydro valve,dress ring , light cable seal through shell , multi port valve etc,etc.....

it's a vinyl liner 9m x 4.5m

ta muchly, will wait to see what they say.

when I suggested non return valve it was with regards the pump gurgling all the time when it starts. I totally agree that amount of water loss is defo a leak

Leak test. Put a bucket on the step in the pool, and fill it to the same level. If it evaporation, then the should go down by roughly the same amount.

yes that is something the customer can do them selfs......just make sure you put the bucket in the pool and not at the side ,.....and don't forget to mark level of water in bucket and pool also date of test .....

70mm! Without a doubt a leak. We had a cracked pipe near the return and were losing about 10 - 15mm a day (pool is approx 9m x 4.5m). The crack looked small but when you filled the section of pipe with water it literally sprayed out...so I can only imagine what it was doing when under pressure. And yes, do the bucket test, in your case I think the results will be pretty obvious.

that's what they're doing now, there's a tupperware pot filled to a level he has put on side of it floating in the pool attached to some wire which is attached to a cylinder which has a see through measure (like a kettle) sat on the side of the pool with water in. I'll let you know when they tell us what they think it is.
Cheers guys
S xx

Dream in UK was a house here with a pool, here is the reality:

Had a rental for a year with a pool...hardly used it, most useage was when we had friends staying who had kids...then great fun.

Cost new to put in $20,000 give or take.

Have had numerous talks with Aussie friends about putting a pool in and most said no, one who even worked in that industry for a few years!

Had a spa in the UK so have decided on a spa here too under a bali hut, so able to use it on hot, cooler or even rainny days :-)

Right all the tests are complete and the guy is adamant it is evaporation. I don't know what to do now as he says the only way we can partly resolve it is by buying a blanket. In all fairness what normally happens over 48 hours has taken nearly 5 days as he has had the solar on without pump and pump without solar etc. It has dropped by about 50mm and he says that the area we live in (Port Kennedy) is particulary windy and along with solar heated water evaporation is going to be a major problem, he said we should expect the level to be dropping by about 7-8mm a day and that would be normal Do you think he is bullshitting?
S xx

Had the same conversations with the same conclusions; most wouldn't bother. Various reasons: installation costs, ongoing maintenance costs, too time consuming, not used frequently enough etc, but the big one for me was safety, particularly if you've got very young kids. My daughter was only four when we first visited a couple of years back, and although the in-laws pool fence complied with all relevant standards, she had no problem at all sliding through the bars.