Every pool in Phoenix loses water. The sun and dry air pull it out fast, so a dropping water level doesn’t always mean a leak. But if you’re filling the pool a lot more than your neighbors, or your water bill jumped, something may be wrong. NextGen Pool Care does leak detection and leak repair in-house for pools all over the Valley. If you think you have a leak, call (623) 526-4945.

Is It a Leak or Just Evaporation?

In the summer, a Phoenix pool can lose a quarter inch of water a day or more just from evaporation. Wind, a waterfall, or a spa spillover make it worse. In winter the loss slows way down.

You can check at home with the bucket test. It’s free and takes a couple of days.

1. Fill a bucket with pool water and set it on the first or second pool step, so it sits in the pool water.
2. Mark the water line inside the bucket. Then mark the pool water line on the outside of the bucket.
3. Leave the pump running on its normal schedule. Don’t add water or swim.
4. After 24 to 48 hours, compare the two drops.

If the pool dropped more than the bucket, you likely have a leak. Try it once with the pump on and once with it off. If the pool loses more with the pump running, the leak is often in the pressure side plumbing. If it loses more with the pump off, look at the suction lines or the pool shell.

Where Pool Leaks Hide

From what we see on jobs around town, leaks usually show up in a few places:

• The equipment pad. Pump seals, filter clamps, valves, and fittings. These are the easiest to find and fix.
• Underground plumbing. Pipes between the pool and the pad can crack from age, ground shifting, or tree roots.
• The skimmer. The seam where the skimmer meets the pool shell is a common spot for cracks.
• Light niches. The cord conduit and the seal around a pool light can let water out.
• Returns and main drains. Fittings in the wall and floor can loosen or crack.
• The shell itself. Cracks in the plaster or pebble finish, or tile that’s come loose at the waterline.

How We Track It Down

We start with the easy stuff. A repair tech checks the equipment pad for drips, wet spots, and air in the pump basket. Then we look over the skimmer, lights, steps, and tile line for cracks or gaps. We’ll ask how fast you’re losing water and whether it changes with the pump on or off. That narrows things down a lot.

If the leak isn’t obvious, we test the suspect spots one at a time until we find it. Once we know where it is, we tell you what it will take to fix and what it will cost. Some fixes are quick, like a new pump seal or a patch at the skimmer. Underground pipe repairs take more work. Either way, you’ll know before we start.

After the repair, keep an eye on the water level for a week. If it’s still dropping faster than it should, call us back.

Signs to Watch For

Besides a dropping water level, these can point to a leak:

• Soggy ground or puddles near the pool or the pad when it hasn’t rained
• Cracks in the deck or the pool finish that keep growing
• Tiles falling off at the waterline
• Algae that keeps coming back because you’re always adding fresh water
• Chemicals that never seem to stay balanced
• An auto-fill that runs all the time

That last one is sneaky. An auto-fill hides a leak by topping off the pool for you. Your first clue is often the water bill.

Why It Pays to Find It Early

A small leak wastes a lot of water over a summer. Worse, water leaking under the deck or the pool can wash out soil and lead to bigger damage. Adding fresh water all the time also throws off your chemistry, since new water brings in more of the Valley’s hard minerals. That means more scale on tile and more work balancing the water. Our chemical balancing page explains why that matters.

Common Questions

How much water loss is normal?

In summer, a quarter inch a day is pretty common in Phoenix. More than a half inch a day with no waterfall or spa running is worth checking. The bucket test above is the easiest way to know.

Can you fix the leak too, or just find it?

We do both. Most leak repairs are done by our own techs. For pump and valve leaks, see our pool pump repair page.

Does homeowners insurance cover pool leaks?

Sometimes. It depends on your policy and what caused the leak. Call your insurance company and ask. We can give you a written report of what we found.

Is my weekly pool tech watching for leaks?

If you’re on our weekly pool cleaning plan, yes. Our techs notice when the water level drops faster than normal or when the pad is wet, and they’ll let you know.

Call About a Leak

Call (623) 526-4945 or send us a request. For what a repair visit costs, check our rates before you call.

NextGen Pool Care, ROC #356379. Licensed, bonded, and fully insured in Arizona.