I have previously posted about a possible pool leak, and a few posters were extremely helpful, so I figure I will post epsiode II here.
To recap...I have recently purchased a property and the in ground pool appears to be leaking. The water sits at the level of the skimmer lip, and if I fill up a few inches, the water will slowing drop to the skimmer lip elevation overnight. It will then stay at that level without dropping any further.
The main drain at the bottom and the skimmer drain line are independent PVC lines that emerge from the foundation about thirty feet away, each has a shut off valve there and then merged to go inside the pool filter and then the pool heater then return to the pool via two separate lines and the filtered water are discharged via four separate jets in the pool.
I hired a pool leak detection expert to investigate. By shutting off the skimmer line and the main drain line independently and did some visual examination into the first six inches or so of skimmer line via some tiny mirror, he told me the leak is not in the skimmer line, the valve is ok, and it is having suction.
He suspect the problem is in the main drain since it seems to be sucking air sometimes. He further speculates that the leak is in the elbow where the main drain is near the surface, causing the pool water to drop to that level so as to maintain hydrostatic pressure. The problem is locating where that elbow is.
What makes this tricky is that the house is a "U" shaped configuration with the pool in the middle of the "U". This means there are rooms on three sides of the house, Between the pool and the filter on the outside is about ten feet of pavers sitting on 4" reinforced concrete slab, then about fifteen feet of the house's east wing which is also sitting on a 8" thick reinforced concrete slab with a footing on each end. Not knowing exactly where the leak is makes the repair very tricky.
The leak detection expert told me he is fairly certain they would have build it "this way" or "that way" and most likely the elbow is around "here" but if not "there". Most of the time the leak is in the albow and never along a pipe, so he advised that I hire him to fix the leak by digging up the paver bricks and jack hammer the concrete slab.
I am a bit concerned about putting a hole in the slab without really knowing where the leak is. He said he is 80 to 90 percent sure he is right on. I said I thought his service is to locate a leak not just guess at it, he says that's the best they can do and he is confident.
My question is therefore...(1) there is no technology to pin point the location? I remember plumbers have cameras to send down the line, can't they use a camera to send back through the filter valve and locate the leak and then try to measure it? (2) Am I right in being concerned about breaking slabs when I have no idea where the leak is?
Thanks,
MC