Pool Leak Detection
Leak detection finds where water is actually leaving, which is rarely where the wet spot appears. We separate evaporation from a real leak with a bucket test, then isolate the shell, the fittings, and the plumbing lines. An autofill hides all of it until a water bill or a soggy yard gives it away.
Signs you need this
- The water bill jumped and nothing else changed
- An autofill hides a leak by replacing it continuously. The bill is often the first honest signal, because the level in the pool never looks wrong at any point.
- One patch of grass beside the pool stays green in August
- Everything else in a Denton County yard is stressed in a 100 degree month. A single green strip usually means a line underneath it is feeding water into the soil.
- The level drops to the middle of the skimmer and stops
- A leak that stops at one height points at that height. The skimmer throat, a return fitting, and the light niche all sit at levels the water can settle down to.
- You only lose water while the pump is running
- That points at the pressure side, the returns and everything after the filter. Loss with the pump off points instead at the shell or at the suction side.
- Deck tiles or coping have started to move
- Water washing soil out from under a deck causes settling. In our clay soil that movement gets significant, so a leak under a deck is worth finding sooner rather than later.
What is included
Included in the plan
- Bucket test to separate ordinary evaporation from a genuine loss
- Autofill isolated so it stops hiding the real rate of loss
- Shell, skimmer throat, light niche, and return fittings dye tested
- Suction and return lines pressure tested and isolated one at a time
- Written findings with the loss rate, the suspected location, and the repair options
Extra, and always in writing first
- Excavation and line repair once the leak has been located
- Skimmer and fitting replacement when the crack is at the throat
- Freeze damage repair on split pad plumbing, common after a hard winter
- Structural crack and plaster repair, quoted under a remodeling scope
Extras need a written yes with the dollar amount before the work starts. No verbal add ons, ever.
What it costs
Quoted after a photo
Detection is priced by pool size and by how many separate systems have to be isolated, since a pool with a spa, a spillway, and a water feature has many more lines to test. Repair is quoted once the leak is found, because a fitting at the skimmer and a line under a concrete deck are entirely different jobs.
We do not publish a number the phone will not honour. See how pricing works.
What moves the price
A range is only honest if you can tell which end you are on. These are the things that decide it.
| Factor | What it does to the number |
|---|---|
| How many separate systems there are | A simple pool has a few lines to isolate. A pool with a spa, a spillway, a bubbler, and a booster line has many more, and every one has to be tested on its own. |
| What sits over the plumbing | A line under soil is straightforward to reach. A line under a concrete deck or under stone coping needs listening equipment and careful access, and repair there is a much larger job. |
| How small the loss is | Large leaks announce themselves. A quarter inch a day takes longer to isolate and may need repeat testing across several visits, and that time is the cost of certainty. |
| Detection or repair | Finding the leak is one job, priced by pool size and system count. The repair is quoted after, because a skimmer throat and a line under a deck are nothing like the same work. |
Find it now or keep adding water
| Detection | Top it up and wait | |
|---|---|---|
| Water cost | Ends once it is repaired | Every week, plus rebalancing hard fill water |
| Chemistry | Stabilizes | Constantly diluted, nothing ever holds |
| Soil and deck | Protected | Washing out under the deck the whole time |
| Freeze season | A known plumbing condition | A wet line that can split in February |
Short version. A slow leak is not a stable situation, it is soil moving under your deck and money leaving your hose bib every week. The bucket test costs nothing, so start there.
Our process
Run a bucket test before spending anything
A bucket on the step for 24 hours tells you whether the loss beats evaporation. In August a pool here can give up a quarter inch a day to heat alone, and that is not a leak.
Turn the autofill off
An autofill quietly replaces the loss and destroys the measurement. Nothing meaningful can be tested while something is topping the pool up behind you.
Compare pump off against pump running
Loss only while the pump runs points at pressure side plumbing. Loss all the time points at the shell or the skimmer. That single comparison narrows most jobs by half.
Isolate and confirm the location
Dye at fittings, pressure testing lines individually, and listening equipment where the line runs under concrete.
Report findings before repairing
You get the loss rate, the location, and the repair options in writing. Nothing gets dug up before you agree to it.
How long it takes
Bucket test you run yourself
24 hours, costs nothing
Autofill isolated and loss measured
First visit
Lines and fittings isolated one at a time
Same visit for most pools
Written findings and repair options
Before anything is dug up
Through a North Texas year
- SpringRain masks losses and soaks the yard, so wet ground proves nothing. Bucket testing is far more reliable than looking at the grass in these months.
- SummerEvaporation is real here, up to a quarter inch a day through a 100 degree stretch. That is why the bucket test exists, to separate heat from an actual leak.
- FallCooler weather, stable water, and less evaporation. The most accurate window of the year for both testing and repair access.
- After a hard freezeFebruary freezes split fittings, skimmer throats, and pad plumbing. Losses that start here often stay hidden until the pump runs full time again in spring.
Our water. A leaking pool is a pool being constantly refilled with hard water. Calcium and alkalinity climb every week from the fill, chlorine and stabilizer get diluted away, and nothing you dose ever holds because the water is being replaced underneath you. Chasing chemistry on a leaking pool is expensive and it never works, which is why we test for a leak when the numbers refuse to stay put.
Common mistakes we get called to fix
Marking the tile and comparing days later with no bucket
A pool drops from evaporation too, and in August that can be a quarter inch a day. Without a bucket alongside it you are measuring the weather, not a leak.
Leaving the autofill on during a test
Something is quietly replacing every drop you are trying to measure. Any test run with the autofill connected gives a result nobody can use, however carefully it was done.
Pouring in leak sealer as a first step
Sealers can work on a tiny shell crack and can also clog a heater, a cell, and a filter. Using one before the leak is located risks turning plumbing work into equipment work.
Do this before you book pool leak detection Flower Mound
Run a bucket test first. Set a bucket of pool water on a step, mark both levels, switch the autofill off, and compare after a full day. If both dropped the same, you have evaporation and not a leak, and we just talked ourselves out of a call. If the pool dropped faster, book pool leak detection Flower Mound work and bring those numbers with you. It saves an hour on our side and money on yours.
On site we pressure test one line at a time, check the shell with dye at the usual suspects, and isolate the pad. The wet patch in the grass is almost never over the leak, because water follows the trench and surfaces where the soil is loosest. Ask any company whether pool leak detection Flower Mound pricing covers detection only or the repair as well, because those are two jobs and lumping them hides a lot.
The wet spot in the yard is almost never above the leak. Water follows the trench line and surfaces wherever the soil is loosest, which is why we pressure test lines one at a time instead of digging where it looks wet.
What this looks like on a real job
Photo slot
A real in-progress shot from a pool leak detection job. Crew or equipment visible, not a stock backyard.
Photo slot
The finished result plus a clear photo of the equipment pad, the kind that goes into the photo report after every visit.
Related work on the same route
Common questions
How do I know it is a leak and not evaporation?
The bucket test. Fill a bucket, set it on a step so the water inside and outside start level, leave the autofill off for a day, and compare. If the pool drops further than the bucket, something real is leaving.
The wet spot is beside the equipment pad. Is that the leak?
Sometimes, and pad leaks are the easiest to find. But water underground follows the path of least resistance, so a wet yard is a clue rather than an answer. That is why lines get pressure tested individually.
Could a freeze have caused this?
Frequently. Hard freezes here split fittings, crack pump volutes, and break skimmers at the throat, and the loss often stays hidden until the pool runs full time again in spring.
Start this week
Send the city and a pad photo. You get the plan before the first stop.