There are many reasons for installing a residential swimming pool, including the financial, social, medical, and recreational benefits. However, there is an obvious drawback: maintenance. Pools require periodic cleaning, chemical and equipment controls. They also need to be emptied when it’s cold in some parts of the country and then refilled when it gets hot again. That being said, few homeowners regret the decision to put a pool in their backyard. This not only adds value to your property but also provides countless hours of family fun.
What about leaks?
One of the most common problems for homeowners is that a hole will form in a little corner of paradise. They are right to worry. The average residential model is over 1200 square feet and has hundreds of feet of plumbing underneath. A small crack the size of a pinhead can cause hundreds of gallons of water to be lost every day. To make matters worse, it is almost impossible for an untrained person to find damage. Unless there is an actual crack, which is rare enough, the homeowner is unlikely to find the leak, much less repair it.
Detection
Like most structural problems, leaks are degenerative. In other words, they tend to get a lot worse and more expensive if not repaired as soon as possible. As mentioned above, it is unlikely that actual damage will be found, but there are signs and symptoms that all homeowners should keep a close eye on. Who are they?
The most obvious of them is the loss of water. If your pool loses more than an inch of water in 24 hours, the most likely cause is a hole or crack. The damage can also cause algae formation even after water treatment. A leaking reservoir will also cause your automatic filler to release more H2O to keep it full continually. If you notice any of these problems, call a repair technician to have your pool serviced immediately. Ignoring the problem will never fix it. This will only lead to higher repair costs down the road, as well as higher water and chemical bills today.
What will they do?
An experienced pool maintenance technician will generally use two tests to detect leaks. The first is called a pressure test and is used to evaluate the integrity of a plumbing system. Water is poured into each line, and if the pressure drops, it means there is a hole in that line. If the plumbing works, the problem must be in the pool frame or sink. In this case, a staining test should be performed. How does it work?
After the visually identifies possible damage, a pool maintenance technician like stagshead will spray a small amount of paint in the area to see if the suspected leak is causing water loss. If the dye is removed from the bathroom, the damage is detected. This simple and affordable test is very effective in identifying repair problems in any residential building model.
Leaks are easy to identify and often inexpensive to repair, so an experienced pool maintenance technician cannot locate the leaks.