Water consumption

Water Chemistry
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1

Hi,

I’m the happy new owner of a 60 feet by 7.5 feet swimming pool (depth 3.6 feet).  But I’m getting worried about the water consumption.  I have no hard data yet but it seems like it consumes over 2500 gallons of water per month.  I live in Belgium, that’s not the hottest country in the world.  I keep my water at >= 25 degrees with a heat pump and a solar lamellae cover.  My provider claims this is normal, I really doubt so.  Do you have an idea of what a normal water consumption would be?  Or how to calculate?

Hear you!

Patrick

2

Hello Patrick - If you want to determine if you have a leak or it’s evaporation, you can do the water level bucket test. You place a bucket on a pool step and fill the water inside of it to the level of the pool water. If the water level in the bucket drops at the same rate as the rest of the water, you’re experiencing normal evaporation. If the water in the pool drops quicker than the water in the bucket, you have a leak.

3

Thank you Rob, excellent idea.  By the way, I do have an automatic water level regulator, so the system automatically keeps the water at the same level by filling when necessary.  I’ ll have to stop that system in order to test.  I will do and let you know.

4

You’re welcome, Patrick. Keep us posted.

5

Hi Rob, excellent trick, it proved my pool dropped 1.2cm faster than the bucket over 12h and in between it had still been raining.  Now the installer fully recognizes the problem, we do not add water any more and have to wait until the level stops dropping to locate the leak.  We lose around 1.6m3 per day or a little less than 9 swimming pools per year… Scary, isnt it?  Thank you for the feedback.  BTW, do you have another idea as to how to locate the leak?  I just hope it is not at the bottom, if not we may have to wait another 5 weeks before we can locate the leak. Kind regards.  Patrick

6

You can use the phenol red liquid from a ph test kit to locate a leak. With the pump off, squeeze a few drops near suspected leak areas. Common areas would be in skimmers, lights, return jets, and main drains.

If it’s not in one of those common areas, we recommend hiring a leak detection company.