Most pool owners know a leak is bad news. Fewer know how much bad news. Because the loss is gradual, a leak rarely feels like an emergency, and it’s easy to keep topping up the pool and putting off the call.
This article looks at the numbers behind a leak, what goes into finding and fixing one, and why the cheapest option is usually the one that happens sooner.
Detect: How Much Water Is Actually Going?
Here’s a rule of thumb that makes the numbers easy: one millimetre of water across one square metre of pool surface is one litre.
Take a pool of 8 metres by 4 metres, which is 32 square metres of surface. If a leak is taking an extra 5 millimetres a day on top of normal evaporation, that’s:
- 160 litres a day (32 x 5)
- About 4,800 litres a month
- About 58,000 litres a year
Those figures are an illustration, and your pool and your loss will differ. But the point holds: a leak of just a few millimetres a day adds up to a large volume, and that’s only the water.
The Costs You Don’t See on the Water Bill
The water itself is often the smallest part of the bill. Every litre that leaks out has to be replaced, and the replacement water isn’t pool-ready:
- Chemicals: fresh water dilutes chlorine, stabiliser and pH balance, so it all needs to be topped up and rebalanced
- Salt: in a salt pool, new water dilutes the salt level, so salt has to be added again
- Heating: if the pool is heated, cold top-up water has to be warmed
- Pump and equipment wear: air or water loss in the system makes equipment work harder than it should
- Hidden damage: water escaping from plumbing or the shell can soften and wash away the soil around and under the pool, which can crack paving and put stress on the structure
To get a rough picture of your own loss, it can help to compare water bills with the same period last year and note how often you’ve been topping up the pool.
Fix: What Affects the Complexity and Cost of a Repair
Leak repair isn’t one-size-fits-all. A few things tend to shape how involved a job is:
- Where the leak is: a fitting at the skimmer or a connection at the pump is usually quicker to deal with than underground plumbing or a crack in the shell
- Pool type: concrete, fibreglass and vinyl-lined pools each have different weak points and repair methods
- Access: pipework under paving or landscaping takes more care than equipment you can reach easily
- How many leaks there are: it’s not unusual to find more than one, and several small leaks can add up to what looks like one big problem
- How long it’s been leaking: a long-running leak can leave behind damage that needs fixing alongside the leak itself
Because of this, prices vary, and the most reliable way to know what a repair involves is to have the leak properly located first. Guessing and digging can cost more than the detection itself.
Save: Why Acting Sooner Usually Costs Less
The saving from dealing with a leak comes from three places.
Less water and fewer chemicals wasted. Every month a leak runs is another month of replacement water, chemicals and salt.
A smaller repair. A leak caught early is often a contained job. One left to run can mean damage that costs more to put right than the original leak.
No guesswork. Accurate detection means paying to repair the actual problem, rather than replacing parts that were never at fault.
Getting the Most From a Leak Detection Visit
A little preparation helps the technician get to the answer faster:
- Note roughly when you first noticed water loss and how often you top up
- Keep any recent water bills handy for comparison
- Mention any repairs, renovations or pool equipment changes in recent years
- Tell them about anything unusual, such as damp ground, cracks or air in the pump
- Ask what testing methods will be used and what the report will tell you
Talk to Pool Leaks
If you’re topping up your pool more than you’d expect, or you’d like to know what’s really going on, Pool Leaks can detect the source of the leak, explain your repair options and help you stop the loss.
Contact Pool Leaks to arrange a leak detection assessment anywhere in South East Queensland.
This article provides general information only. The figures above are illustrations, and every pool and leak is different. A professional inspection is the only reliable way to confirm and locate a leak.