Water level dropping faster than normal in your backyard pool? Valley Pools can help track down that leak before it turns your utility bill into a high cost. Around Maryville, our stubborn clay soil and shifting winter ground can put serious stress on pool structures and plumbing lines. If you are noticing a sudden dip in the water line out near Foothills Parkway or down in the traditional neighborhoods closer to downtown, do not panic just yet. Some leaks you can track down with a simple bucket test on a Saturday morning, while others are going to require specialized gear that only a professional crew carries.
Before You Start: The Bucket Test
Do not guess whether you have a leak. Prove it first. Grab a standard five-gallon bucket and fill it with pool water until it matches the water level inside your pool. Set the bucket on the top step of your pool, making sure the water inside the bucket sits right at the same height as the pool water outside it. Turn off your auto-fill if you have one. Marker the water levels on both the inside and outside of the bucket. Wait twenty-four hours. If the water level in the pool dropped noticeably lower than the water level inside the bucket, you have a leak and not just standard Tennessee summer evaporation.
What You Can Do Yourself
Once you know you are losing water, you can narrow down the culprit without spending a dime. Run your pool pump for twenty-four hours, then turn it off for twenty-four hours and measure the drop both times. If you lose more water with the pump running, your underground return or pressure side plumbing is likely cracked. If you lose more water with the system off, the suction side or a structural crack is the prime suspect. You can also walk around the pool edge and check for soggy spots in the grass. Grab a bottle of dark food coloring and squirt a little near main drains, skimmer throats, light niches, and any liner seams. If the dye gets sucked into a specific crack or gap, you found your trouble spot. Small vinyl tears can easily be patched with a standard underwater vinyl repair kit from any local pool supply shop.
When to Call the Pros
There comes a point where DIY tinkering stops working and starts costing you more money in wasted water and chemicals. If your plumbing pressure test fails, you cannot see the leak, or you have a major crack in a concrete shell, it is time to bring in help. Valley Pools uses electronic listening devices and pressure testing equipment to isolate underground pipe breaks without tearing up your entire concrete deck. Finding a leak under a stamped patio or deep beneath the earth requires gear that can pinpoint a fracture within inches. Trying to guess where a PVC pipe snapped under a heavy concrete deck usually leads to a massive mess and wasted weekends. For homes and businesses in Maryville, Valley Pools provides Swimming Pool Contractor services.