If your pool is losing water: how to find the leak
Not every loss is a leak. Rule out evaporation first, then locate the leak — because re-lining without finding it hides the problem rather than solving it.
If a pool is losing water, the first reflex should not be to strip the lining. Water loss has more than one cause, and a renovation built on the wrong diagnosis comes back to the same place a season or two later.
Rule out evaporation first
In hot, windy weather an open pool loses a significant amount of water every day, and that is normal. This has to be ruled out before hunting for a leak. The simple method: put a bucket filled to the brim on a step, mark the water level in the bucket and in the pool, run the system as usual and wait 24 to 48 hours. If both drop by the same amount, it is evaporation, not a leak. If the pool has dropped noticeably more, there is a leak.
Where the leak might be
There are three main places: the lining and its joints, the waterproofing, and the pipe runs. A second test helps separate them: compare the rate of loss with the pump running and with it off. If the loss speeds up only while the system runs, look at the pressurised return lines. If it continues with the system off, the shell or the suction side comes to the fore.
Where the level settles is also a clue: if the water stops at a particular height, the leak is most likely at an element at that level — the skimmer throat, a light housing, or around a return jet.
Why not renovate before locating it
Re-lining refreshes the visible surface, but if the leak is in the waterproofing or the pipework the loss continues underneath the new lining. In that case both money and a season are lost. That is why we do not start a renovation by stripping the lining; we look first at why the pool is losing water.
When renovation is actually needed
Once the leak is located, renewing only the failed layer, rather than the whole pool, is usually enough. If there is a structural crack in the shell the job grows; if it is a joint or a single element, the work stays limited. Duration and cost can be discussed once the scope is clear after the survey.
We have completed 350 pool renovations to date; renovation is a different job from new construction, and you have to work without damaging what is already there.
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