Leaking Swimming Pool Problems? & Underwater Solutions

The first step to solving water loss problems from a pool is to determine where the water is going.

We need to determine if the water loss is due to a leak from the pool, a leak in the plumbing system or just due to evaporation.

We visually check the pool for visible cracks

1. If we are unable to see any cracking in the tilework the sturucture is probably sound.

We check the surface pipework for any leaks

1. One area we check for leaks is around the sand filter & the selector valve. If the seal in the valve is damaged you could be losing water through the waste pipe.

We do a bucket test to check for evaporation loss  

1. We fill a bucket up with water and place it near the pool or on the top step. We then mark the pool level and the level of the water in the bucket. If the water loss is due to evaporation the level should drop at the same rate in the bucket and the pool. If the pool level drops more then the bucket then we know there is leak somewhere out of sight.

You have a leak

If we confirm that the pool is leaking we need to identify the exact location.

First we would carry out a "Pipe Pressure Test". If this test confirmed a leak in the pipework we would first try to identify the exact location using a CCTV inspection. Use of this equipment depends on the pipe work and how many bends there are in the line.  The CCTV camera is fitted with a signal sender which sends a signal to a locating tracer that can tell us where the fault is. This saves digging up your terrace or removing parts of the walls.  Using this equipment can save you time and most importantly money.

Fixing a Leak in the pipe work.

Lots of people will put up with a minor leak, because they think they will have to go through the bother of emptying the pool, having the repair done, then refilling the pool and waiting for it to warm up again before use.

We don't need you to empty the pool. We fix leaking pipework while the pool is still full of your nice warm water.

We do this by placing a bag of sand over each sump, this reduces the water flow, then we install an inflatable plug into the pipe work and then inflate it. We then put expandable plugs into the skimmer and return lines.

We then carry out the repair work, deflate the plugs and remove them.  Then we remove the sand bags from the sumps.

Underwater repairs

We do carry out underwater repairs but we only regard them as temporary repairs due to expansion & contraction the filler will become loose & will break away over a period of time. 

Replacement of tiles

Small areas of tiles can be easily replaced but when larger areas start coming away this is a sign that the adhesive is coming to the end of its life & the pool needs completely re-tiling. 

In most cases minor work can be carried out without dumping the water.  We have specialized tanks that store water.