1

I have a 3.66m above ground vinyl pool, 1 season old, and I can't find the leak at all.

I've tried the food colour route, where one tries to trace the flow of the water by injecting small parts of blue food colour - cannot find it.

I've seen videos on youtube where the guy says one can hit on the bottom of the pool and bits of dirt will get sucked in - then you can see the dirt and identify the leak, but the pool is on a pool cover so there is no dirt.

The pool is only 10% filled now - until I can find the leak.

Will it work if I go and rent a small compressor and press the nozzle against the outside and look inside to where the bubbles are? It's gonna cost a small amount (I'm not in the states but it's about $15), but it's less than 10% of the price of a new pool.

I will to the sidewall first - it could be in the bottom creases - but I know it's at the bottom because the pool is only 10% filled and its leaking.

The bottom will be a bit more interesting - I'll have to lift up the pool from the bottom and press against it - I'll probably have to get rid of most of the water in there now (not a lot) and when I do press it from the bottom, the water will then disperse to the sides and I'll have to try and get water on the exact spot above the nozzle again.

Will this work? Any tips? Any ideas for the bottom part (side is easy)

enter image description here

Improve this question
2
  • How much does it leak? Roughly?
    – holroy
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 8:06
  • 1
    3 liters about during the day
    – Peter PitLock
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 8:48

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

I don't think it's feasible to rent a small compressor and blow against the outside of your pool. The air will go the easiest way and that is not through the body of water within the pool.

If you should use air, you would need to flip it around so that the air could escape through water. Like in actually flipping the pool around and submerging it into a larger pool, partially filling it with water, and then see where the air flows out of your pool. Not easily done, though.

Assuming your leak is in the actual bottom, it could be an option to cover the bottom area with ordinary towels (between the vinyl cover and the pool), fill it up and let it stand for a while allowing some water to leak. If you then drain the pool, and carefully lift aside the bottom you should be able to locate the wet towel and find the leaky area. That would narrow your search down to a smaller area.

When finding the leaky area, you could try to further narrow it down by tapeing paper towels to the bottom of the pool in that area, and then refill that area with colored water. The leak should then be visible and easy to locate after just a few minutes with water in that area of the pool.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually tested these ideas, but in theory they should work! Hope it helps!

Improve this answer
3
  • Great advice thank you. The pool is at small slope (I know it shouldnt be like this), and the water is all running into the lower side, and then a bit up again , and now everything is wet - making it difficult to isolate the part where the leak is. The submerge into larger pool one is a good plan. I'm going to try to find someplace where I can do that. THanks holroy
    – Peter PitLock
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 11:10
  • 1
    @PeterPitLock... Use the slope to your advantage. Place it so that it only goes down, then the topmost wet part is your leaky area...
    – holroy
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 11:13
  • OK i used the slope to my advantage as suggested - around the pool it was dry, and most of the bottom still had water, and then when I added some water, this immediately hit the leak and I could immediately identify the area. thanks holroy!
    – Peter PitLock
    Commented Nov 6, 2015 at 17:12

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.