Hey there.

I'm a new pool owner, and the previous owner said there was probably a leak in the main drain (he isn't sure, he didn't want to pay a guy to come and look at it.)... It's winter now, and I've only been here a month and the whole pool is covered by a foot of snow, so I really have no idea...

I'm a total newbie when it comes to pools and pool ownership.

Anyhow, if there IS a leak in the main drain, he'd mentioned that the drain could just be covered, and others that I'd talked to said that the "new" pool systems don't use a drain anyhow... Is this true?

Would it be better to fix the leak in the drain, or SHOULD I just cover the drain, if this is so?

If I were to get the drain leak repaired, how much would something like that cost, and how would it even be done? Would they have to dig my whole yard up to get in there and run a new line, or... ?

It's an oval inground pool, 17'x40', with a liner. It's approximately 28,000 gallons.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks a ton!

 

Hi
Vermithrax , one step at a time,

1. what makes you, the previous owner believe there is a leak ?

2. being a vynal liner type pool the main suction should be sandwiched to the liner with some type of sealing gasket or o-ring with a number of stainless steel screws, try tighten the screws without over tightening them, get a 1 oz. bottle of phenol red [ this what you use to check your ph & by just flowing the p.r. dye [ if you will ] around the main suction area, being careful not to stir the water [ youll need a weight belt ] if there is a leak at this area the red p.r. dye will be " pulled " into the offending area.

notice i refer to the main drain as main suction , because that is what it is and what it does, sucks, pulls, water to the pump via the main suction, there may be a valve at the pump for this or contron more than likely is in the skimmer.

3. if you completely plug off the main suction you may run into a problem of chemicals not getting to all areas of the pool , if you have an automatic pool cleaner regardless of suction side or pressure side closing the main suction would pose no problem whatsoever.

at any rate its obvious that your pretty much status quo till spring,

do not attempt to drain the pool this requires experience and the correct equipment.

lol steve

 

1. The previous owner told me that he'd lose water (more than just evaporation), and his pool guy had told him that he'd narrowed it down to a problem with the drain... However, the previous owner didn't want to pay the money to have the pool guy do the REAL tests and find out exactly what the problem was...

2. I'll give that a try as soon as I can. Thanks for the advice there.

About the drain... Good information to know. Thanks again!

3. Now, I have an automatic pool cleaner, so I presume that would "spread things around" a bit... I'm going to be going to a salt-water chlorinator system too, though right now it's not, of course, being as I've never even had the pool open yet.

Now are you saying that if I shut off or plugged the main suction (drain), that if I ran the automatic pool cleaner every now and again, it would move things around enough? That's a good thing.

I won't attempt to drain the pool... I'll just throw some water into it in spring (there's currently only about a foot in the shallow end, probably about 5 feet in the deep end), and try what you've suggested.

Thanks for your help! And hey, if there are any other comments or suggestions from anyone, I'm totally open for any suggestions! If you've ran into this type of problem before, or can give me some advice, I'm all ears.

 

Vermithrax, hi again, just so there is no mis-understanding....

1. if you put a plug in the main suction , [ you would have to remove the grate to see the pipe ] this is fine provided the leak is not in the gasket or o-ring that seals the main suction fitting, housing , whatever you want to call it, so once again its allways better to know exactly where the water is going, if its indeed leaking is at the housing , then putting a plug in the pipe will be of no use.

2. after the leak is plugged using a suction side cleaner or a pressure type cleaner will take care of any " dead " areas [ areas that may not get circulation. ]


lol steve

 

Perfect! That's exactly what I wanted to know... One other thing, though... If the leak isn't in the fitting, housing, o-ring, etc... And the leak is in the actual drain... What happens then? I guess it's PLUG time, eh? Heheheh. Just wondering what would actually be done to fix the problem, is all. Like to actually repair a leak IN the drain... Sounds to me like it'd be a major undertaking!

 

not a problem, if there is a leak in the drain [ housing / body the part the pipe glues or threads into ]

there are underwater epoxys they sell them at most pool supply stores 2 parts mix a part with b part equal amounts togeather and apply to said crack, presto youve done it.


steve