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What To Do When Your Pool Is Losing Water

12 October 2022

Irene Montgomery

A pool leak is very annoying. It wastes water and also causes damage as the water soaks whatever is in its way. If you've seen the water level in your pool dropping noticeably, you need to find that leak and fix it.

Verify It's a Leak

First, you need to verify that the water loss is actually a true leak. While it's completely possible that the leak is somewhere underground, say, in one of the pipes leading to the pool or somewhere on the bottom, there are also a couple of things that can make the pool lose water without there being a true leak.

The most common is evaporation, and chances are you've seen plenty about the bucket test, where you take some pool water and place it in a bucket. (Not tap water; you want the water in the bucket and the pool to be of the same composition in terms of debris, chlorine, and so on.) You place the bucket on one of the pool steps, ensure the level of the water in the pool and the bucket match, and then wait a couple of days. If the water in the bucket drops, too, and you know there are no leaks in the bucket, you're dealing with evaporation.

Another possible reason is simple splashing. If you have kids, rowdy teens, or are even just a vigorous swimmer yourself, enough water can splash out of the pool to lower the surface by a couple of inches or so.

Try Looking Again

Let's say you've verified the loss isn't evaporation or splashing. That does point to a leak. You can try looking again to see if you spot signs of a leak before you start messing around with the water. Look around the perimeter of the pool and also look for unexplained wet spots around the area, where the ground is wet even though you haven't had sprinklers on, for example. That could point to a leak underground in a pipe. Inspect the pump and other pool equipment, too. There is a dye test you can do, but not everyone wants to mess with the water quality and color.

By the way, if you do find what you think is a leak that you can reach, you can use waterproof tape to try to seal the source until a repair crew gets there.

Call a Leak Detection and Pool Repair Service

If you don't want to do the dye test, or if you try it and still can't find anything, it's time to call a leak detection and pool repair company. They will be able to test to find out where the leak is, and once they find it, they can fix it. Soon you'll be swimming again and splashing water around to your heart's content. 

For more information about pool leak detection, contact a local professional. 

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