Find And Fix A Leak In Your Swimming Pool

“I’m having to add water to my swimming pool each week. Is it necessary a leak?” Depending on the climate near your home, it is not unusual to be losing a 1/4″ of pool water a day due to evaporation. This implies almost 2″ a week! The greatest components affecting this are humidity, wind, and air and water temperature.
To find out if you undoubtedly have a leak in your swimming pool, fill up a bucket with water from the pool and set it on the steps of your pool using the top of the bucket above water level. This will likely keep the water in the bucket precisely the same temperature as the pool. If you do not have steps, you can look at balancing the bucket on the top ladder tread. At this point, compare the water loss between the bucket and your pool during a period of several days, the longer, the better. We’re assuming that your bucket does not have an opening within it! If you notice a change, you’ve got a leak!

Now let’s realize that leak! Fill the swimming pool to the normal level and mark it. A bit of duct tape is fantastic for this. Next with your filter system running the entire time, wait 12 to twenty four hours and measure the decrease of water. Then refill the pool back to the same level and with the filter system off, wait exactly the same period of time (also over the same part of the day, ie. 8 AM to 8 AM or 7 PM to 7 AM) and study the water loss.
If you’re losing more water with the filter system running, the leak is around the pressure side of your plumbing somewhere PAST the impeller of the pump. If you are losing less water using the filter system not running, the leak is on the vacuum side of your plumbing somewhere BEFORE the impeller of the pump. Please note that in this case, most of the time the pool only loses water once the system is off and never when it’s on. If the water loss is identical, then your leak is incorporated in the structure of the pool and not in the plumbing.

Let’s cope with a leak in the plumbing first. We’ll think that there isn’t an obvious leak (one that you can see) on the filter system. Did you check where your backwash line comes out? There are two ways to find this leak. First, you can pressure test the lines, then dig, following the leaking line till you find it. You may also call in your local leak detection service. We’d recommend the latter, unless you like to dig. Professionals will use “geophones” to pay attention for the leak and just dig where necessary!

Now lets consider a leak in the structure of a concrete pool. You will need some food coloring for this, and you’ll wish to switch off the pump at least an hour before you do this. In a concrete pool, any cracks in the shell are usually obvious. By squeezing out the food coloring near the crack, you will see the crack pull the food coloring in. That will show you where the pool is leaking. Yes, you may have to get in the pool to do this, but isn’t that why you got the pool in the first place? If there are no visible cracks, you will want to squeeze out the food coloring around any of the items that pierce the shell of the pool (main drain, returns, lights, etc.). Be sure to check the “mouth” of the skimmer in which the plastic of the skimmer meets the concrete. This area is very susceptible to movement and quite often separates creating a leak.

Once the leak is found, it is easy to fix using a patching material. Many of them works under water. After patching, check again together with your food coloring to make sure you plugged the leak. Take note that if you patch near a fitting, you will want to leave the pump off while it cures, so the flow of water doesn’t wash the patch away.

What if you have a vinyl pool with a leak? A leak can be a little harder to find and fix in a vinyl pool, but it’s not impossible. We would propose that you first check around all the items that pierce the liner (main drain, returns, lights, etc.). If you find that the liner has pulled away or perhaps is leaking behind a fitting, we would Highly recommend that you simply call in the local pool professional at this time. If you mess this repair up you could be easily looking at a new liner!
If you don’t detect a leak around the fittings, you simply must search the liner itself. A lot of vinyl liners have a pattern on the walls or bottom which can make it hard to see a hole. Sometimes by running your hand over the floor and walls you might feel a tear or puncture that’s not easily visible. If you have a friend who is a diver, he or she can do the job a lot easier with a tank than you can by holding your breath. Note: only certified divers should be using diving gear, even in a pool. Sometimes there is a depression on to the floor which might indicate erosion brought on by the flow of water. After locating the leak it is an easy matter to patch, utilizing a vinyl patch kit and following a directions. Click here for awesome pool services.

The Importance Of Having A Pool Service

It is very important to find and do a swimming pool repair as soon as the problem occurs, or else the issue will only worsen. The better the making of your pool was, (and also the more experienced your service provider was), the less problems you ought to have. Some problems however, are inevitable.

Kinds of Pool Problems
The following are common types of swimming pool conditions that need repair:

Broken plaster: Scorching, cracking or broken plaster has to be repaired or even the water will breakdown the concrete underneath the plaster. It may be essential to resurface your pool, for the way severe the harm.
Cracks: One such problem from sun damage or the earth’s movement.
Removal of rust: rust can indicate that there are bigger problems, for example, rust can happen since there is something wrong with the rebar.
Problems can also occur using the grout, tiles, bonding, and beams. These should also be repaired.

Maintenance Suggestions to Prevent Repair

To prevent problems from arising, we advise day to day pool care, by following these tips:Two times a weekLook into the pH level. The water should be slightly alkaline and have a pH between 7.2 and 7.6, as this is the best level for chlorine to be effective.Confirm the chlorine level, to ensure bacteria and algae are being eliminated.
Check the skimmer basket is clean of debris and dirt so this dirt does not end up back in the pool.

Once a week
Do a shock treatment, in the evenings. These can be bought from the pool shop and will enhance the level of chlorine inside your pool, destroy germs and enhance the appearance of your pool. Click here to read more on keeping your swimming pool water crystal clear. Ask an employee in the sales department for more information. Add algaecide, in order to control algae from growing in your pool. It is best to do this the morning once you do the shock treatment. Ensure you get a high quality algaecide, otherwise your pool tiles can get damaged and a swimming pool tile repair will be necessary. Add ‘Metal Out’. Tiny deposits of metal are sometimes present in pools, ‘Metal Out’ will ensure that these metal particles are destroyed. Add clarifier, which will clear up cloudy water and keep your pool looking clear and sparkly. Clarifier also helps with water filtration, as it causes tiny particles (that are they cannot be removed by the filtration system) to group together and form larger particles that won’t get through the filtration system.

Monthly
Check the calcium level, which should be at the ideal balance. If the pool water contains an excessive amount of calcium, scale formation will occur, whereas if it is too low, corrosion will occur. Have a sample of pool water to a pool shop for them to test this for you.

Mid-season
Clean swimming pool filters
The Pool Team can come out and inspect your pool mid-season to make certain things are running as it should be. Don’t Sweat It.

The Pool Team is a specialist, wholesale pool company. We can will give you a commercial or residential swimming pool service, to areas in and around Johannesburg, and we may also perform maintenance checks for you to prevent problems or ensure there aren’t already some existing ones. We can also supply you with a wide variety of quality pool products, wherever you are in the world, to suit your needs and budget. Whether you need a concrete swimming pool repair, fiberglass swimming pool repair, gunite swimming pool repair, inground swimming pool repair, or any other type of swimming pool repair or renovation, we can make it better and also have you returning to doing your laps before you know it!  Click here for awesome pool services.

The Way a Swimming Pool Filter System Works

The Way a Swimming Pool Filter System Works.

The Way a Swimming Pool Filter System Works

Today we’re going to discuss how a pool area filter system works. There is really a pump timer, a swimming pool pump and a filter. We’ll discuss the function of the pump, the filter, the plumbing and just how all this works together.

Water travels from the pool to the pump. The water comes in through two pipes. One emanates from the pool skimmer and the other originates from the main drains at the bottom of the pool. The water is pulled into the pump on the suction side. Just before entering the pump the water moves via a basket termed as a strainer pot. The basket is a secondary path for filtering the water in order to avoid debris from getting into the pump chamber where the impeller spins. The water leaves the pump on the discharge side or “pressure side” of the plumbing. The water is forced from the pump into the filter. The filter acts to eradicate dirt and debris from the water. The water that is clean then leaves the filter and, in some cases, passes through a chlorinator and back to the pool. It is best to chlorinate the water after it leaves the filter so that less chlorine enters the pump and filter which can be bad for the equipment.

There are three popular varieties of filters. One is a sand filter. The sand collects and traps debris. To release the debris the sand filter needs to be backwashed. Another filter is a cartridge filter. They have a greater surface area and are reduced in maintenance. One or two times per season a cartridge filter needs to be hosed off and cleaned. The last type of a filter is a DE or diatomaceous earth filter. DE is a fine powder that coats the grids of the filter housing. DE filters are the best for trapping the smallest of debris. DE filters must also be backwashed occasionally and the DE power ought to be replaced with each backwash.

Backwashing a filter is the simple procedure for running the filter in the opposite direction and flushing the filter of debris. You know it ‘s time to backwash once the pressure in the filter rises above 20 psi. This means there is too much debris in the filter and water is struggling to go through the system. If backwashing doesn’t work or pressure increases rapidly it may be because the pool has a lot of debris or the filter must be manually cleaned.

Sometimes after your pump has been off for a long period of your time it’s not easy to reprime it. This happens because all of the water has drained from the filter and the plumbing. To facilitate priming, completely close the main drain valve. Fully open the skimmer valve. Place the filter valve in the circulate position. Then turn the system on. This will isolate the filter from the circuit thereby asking the pump only to prime the plumbing. Within a few minutes you should have a full and constant water flow through the pump. Once this has been established, quickly turn off the pump. Move the filter valve into the filter position and restart the pump. The prime will continue and fill the filter. Don’t forget to bleed the air from your filter when prime is established. More information about <a href=”http://aquanutspoolservices.com/”>pool service</a> here.