Is Your Pool Leaking or Just Evaporating? Here's How to Tell

You added water to your pool three days ago. Now the level is low again. Is it a leak, or just the Texas heat doing its thing?

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It's one of the most common questions pool owners ask. The answer matters. A real leak left alone can damage your plumbing, lift your deck, erode the soil under your pool, and run your water bill up fast.

Here's how to figure out which one you're dealing with.

How Much Water Loss Is Normal in Texas?

In a Texas summer, normal evaporation runs about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water per day. That number goes up when it's windy, when humidity drops, or when temperatures push past 100°F, which happens often in the DFW area from June through September. Sink or Swim Pools

For most backyard pools, that adds up to more than 100 gallons lost daily from evaporation alone. Mypoolrx

Factors that speed up evaporation:

• High temperatures and direct sun

• Low humidity and dry wind

• Heated pools or spa features

• Water features like fountains or waterfalls

• Heavy splash-out from swimmers

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If your water loss fits within that 1/4 to 1/2 inch range and conditions have been hot and dry, you're probably looking at normal evaporation.

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If you're losing more than that, or if the level keeps dropping even on cool calm days, that's when you start testing for a leak.

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The Bucket Test: The Fastest Way to Check

This test costs nothing and takes 24 hours.

What you need: a 5-gallon bucket.

Step 1. Fill the bucket with pool water until the water level inside the bucket matches the water level in your pool.

Step 2. Set the bucket on the first or second pool step so it's partially submerged. Weight it down with a rock if needed.

Step 3. Mark the water level on both the inside and outside of the bucket with tape or a marker.

Step 4. Turn the pump off. Wait 24 hours.

Step 5. Check both marks.

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If both water levels dropped the same amount, you're losing water to evaporation. If the pool water level is lower than the water level inside the bucket, your pool likely has a leak. HB Pools

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Run this test on a day without rain. Rain throws off the results.

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The Pump Test: Finding Where the Leak Is

If the bucket test points to a leak, the pump test helps narrow down where.

Mark the water level and run the pump for 24 hours. Note the loss. Then mark the level again, shut the pump off for 24 hours, and note the loss again.

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More loss with the pump on means the leak is on the pressure side of your plumbing. More loss with the pump off means the leak is on the suction side. Equal loss either way means the leak is in the pool shell itself, such as a liner crack, plaster crack, or light niche. PST Pool Supplies

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This test won't pinpoint the exact location. But it tells a professional where to start looking, which speeds up the detection process.

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Signs You Have a Leak, Not Evaporation

Don't wait for the bucket test if you're seeing any of these:

• Water loss greater than 1/2 inch per day, even in mild weather

• Wet spots in the yard or around the equipment pad when it hasn't rained

• Your water bill went up without explanation

• You're adding water more than twice a week

• Cracks in the pool deck or settling around the edge of the pool

• Air bubbling into the pump or skimmer

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Evaporation follows weather patterns. It goes up during heat waves and slows down in cool or humid conditions. A leak causes consistent water loss regardless of the weather. That pattern difference is one of the clearest ways to tell them apart without any testing at all. Lflus

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What Leaks Actually Cost You

A small leak in a pool, even a slow one, wastes hundreds of gallons per day. At DFW water rates, that adds up fast. More importantly, water leaking under your deck or into the soil around your pool causes erosion. Over time that leads to deck settling, cracked coping, and in some cases, structural damage to the pool shell.

Catching a leak early is almost always cheaper than catching it late.

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When to Call a Pro

If your bucket test shows a leak, or if you've been adding water consistently and can't explain it, it's time to bring in a leak detection specialist.

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TX AquaDoc specializes in pool leak detection and underwater repairs for DFW-area pools. We use professional equipment to locate the source without digging up your yard or tearing apart your equipment.

 

Schedule a leak detection appointment today.

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Serving the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. Call TX AquaDoc for pool leak detection and underwater pool repairs.