I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to pool ownership, and I’ve got some questions about maintaining our pool. We have a small pool, around 5x2 meters, and I’ve noticed that it’s losing water every week. I’d estimate we’re losing about half a centimeter per day, and every week I find myself needing to turn on the hose to top it up again.
We live in Portugal where summers are really hot, so I’m wondering if this water loss could just be from evaporation due to the heat. Has anyone experienced something similar? Is this amount of loss normal, or could it be something more serious like a leak?
I am a Portuguese living in Canada too and, I can only assume that it’s evaporation. The best course of action is to perform the bucket test; just Google “water bucket test” to discover a few how-to videos!
Yeah, it could be because of evaporation or water splashing out, especially if your pool isn’t covered. The easiest way to check is by doing what’s called a bucket test. Grab a five-gallon bucket (or whatever size works for you), fill it with water, and mark where the water level is. Place it next to your pool and mark your pool’s water level too. After a week, compare the two. If they’ve both dropped the same amount, it’s just evaporation. But if your pool’s lost more water than the bucket, you might have a leak. At that point, you could start checking the lines or doing dye tests, but this is a simple and effective way to figure it out without spending any money or much effort.
If the pool is inground, you may avoid marking it by placing the bucket on the stairs. Mark the bucket’s outer water line on the exterior and its interior water line on the inside. then give it a day or as long it takes, and compare.
