Once you know your swimming pool is losing more water than normal evaporation can explain, the next question is obvious: where is the water going?

Unfortunately, finding a pool leak isn’t always as simple as spotting a puddle.

A leak could be at the equipment pad, around the skimmer, behind a pool light, through a crack in the pool shell, at a return fitting, or somewhere inside plumbing buried beneath several feet of deck or landscaping. That’s why proper leak detection is less about guessing where the problem is and more about systematically eliminating possibilities until the source is isolated.

At Las Vegas Pool Bros, we like homeowners to understand what we’re looking for and why. Here’s how the process works.

Start by Confirming the Pool Is Actually Leaking

Before hunting for a leak, make sure you actually have one.

Las Vegas pools can lose a noticeable amount of water through evaporation. Heat, direct sunlight, low humidity and wind all affect how quickly water leaves a pool.

A bucket test is a good place to start. By comparing the amount of water lost from your pool with the amount lost from a partially submerged bucket over the same period, you can separate evaporation from unexplained water loss.

If the pool consistently loses more water than the bucket, it’s time to start looking for the source.

Pay Attention to When the Pool Loses Water

Before breaking out specialized equipment, there are clues that can help narrow the search.

Does the pool lose more water while the pump is running? Does it continue losing water at roughly the same rate when the equipment is shut off? Does the water level repeatedly fall to the same point and then stop?

Comparing water loss with the circulation system running versus shut down can help determine whether plumbing should be investigated. A pool that repeatedly stabilizes at the same elevation can also point toward a fitting, skimmer, light, crack or other penetration near that waterline.

These aren’t definitive diagnoses. They’re clues that tell us where to look next.

Visual Inspection: Start With What We Can See

Some leaks aren’t hidden at all.

The equipment pad is one of the first places worth inspecting. Pumps, filters, heaters, valves, unions and exposed plumbing connections can all develop leaks. Water may drip while the system is operating, or you might notice mineral deposits, staining, damp soil or evidence that an area has repeatedly been wet.

We also look around the pool itself.

That includes the skimmer, tile line, return fittings, pool lights, water features, visible cracks and penetrations through the pool shell. Around the deck and landscaping, unusually wet soil, settling or persistent damp areas can also provide clues.

The point is to eliminate the obvious possibilities before moving on to more involved testing.

Dye Testing: Watching Where the Water Goes

One of the simplest and most useful tools for pinpointing certain pool leaks is tracer dye.

The pool circulation system is turned off and the water is allowed to become as still as possible. A small amount of concentrated dye is then released close to a suspected leak.

If water is escaping through that location, the dye may be visibly drawn toward the opening instead of simply dispersing into the surrounding water.

Dye testing can be particularly useful around:

• skimmer throats and joints
• return fittings
• light niches and conduits
• main drain components
• visible cracks
• fittings and other penetrations through the pool shell

The key is getting the dye close to the suspected location without disturbing the water. Dumping a bunch of dye into the pool doesn’t tell you much. It needs to be applied carefully and methodically.

And a negative dye test doesn’t mean the pool isn’t leaking. It simply means water wasn’t detected escaping through the particular location that was tested.

Pressure Testing: Checking the Underground Plumbing

This is where leak detection starts getting more technical.

Most of your pool’s plumbing isn’t visible. Pipes travel from the skimmers, drains and returns through the ground to the equipment pad. If one of those pipes cracks or a fitting fails underground, there may be nothing visible from above.

To investigate buried plumbing, individual lines can be isolated and pressure tested.

The line is sealed using test plugs and subjected to controlled test pressure. The technician then monitors whether that pressure remains stable. If a properly isolated line holds pressure, that’s evidence the line is likely sound. If it loses pressure, there’s reason to suspect a leak somewhere along that plumbing run.

That distinction is important:

Pressure testing can identify which plumbing line is leaking, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you where along that line the break is located.

That’s when the investigation moves to locating the failure more precisely.

Acoustic and Electronic Leak Detection

Imagine a return line running beneath 20 feet of concrete deck.

A pressure test tells us that line isn’t holding. The last thing anyone wants to do is start randomly cutting holes in the deck until we happen to find the broken pipe.

That’s where electronic and acoustic detection methods can come into play.

Escaping air, water or a combination introduced during testing can produce sound or vibration around a plumbing failure. Specialized listening equipment can be used to survey the suspected pipe route and look for the strongest indication of the leak.

Depending on the situation, professionals may use electronic listening equipment, hydrophones, ground microphones or other locating techniques after a plumbing line has failed testing.

The objective is simple: narrow the repair area as much as possible before anything gets opened up.

If we’re going to disturb a deck, landscape or other finished surface, we want a good reason for choosing that particular spot.

Testing Skimmers, Lights and Other Common Problem Areas

Not every leak involves a broken underground pipe.

The skimmer is one area that deserves careful attention because different materials and components come together there. Movement or deterioration around the joint between the pool structure and skimmer can create a path for water to escape.

Pool lights are another area worth investigating. The light itself isn’t necessarily the problem. The niche, conduit and surrounding penetrations can provide potential pathways for water loss.

Return fittings, main drains, hydrostatic components and cracks in the pool shell can also require individual testing. Main-drain investigations, for example, may involve underwater inspection and dye testing before the connected suction plumbing is pressure tested.

This is why it’s dangerous to jump to conclusions based on one symptom.

A pool losing water near the skimmer level doesn’t automatically mean the skimmer is cracked. It means the skimmer and everything else at approximately that elevation deserve a closer look.

Sometimes More Than One Method Is Needed

Good leak detection isn’t about having one magic piece of equipment.

It’s about knowing which test answers which question.

A bucket test can tell us whether the pool appears to be losing more water than evaporation accounts for. Visual inspection can identify obvious problems. Dye can confirm water movement at a specific location. Isolation testing helps narrow the system. Pressure testing can identify a compromised plumbing line. Acoustic equipment can then help pinpoint an underground failure.

These techniques build on one another. Industry leak-detection guidance similarly emphasizes that dye and pressure testing answer different questions and often work best as complementary methods.

That’s a much better approach than deciding, “It’s probably the skimmer,” sealing something and waiting three days to see if the water level drops again.

Finding the Leak Is Only Half the Job

Once the source has been identified, the next step is determining the appropriate repair.

That could be something relatively straightforward, such as repairing a fitting, seal or connection. Other leaks may require work around a skimmer, pool shell or light niche. A failed underground plumbing line may require accessing and repairing a section of pipe.

The important part is that the repair should follow the diagnosis—not the other way around.

After plumbing repairs, pressure testing can be repeated to verify that the repaired line now holds before the area is closed back up. Water-loss monitoring can also help confirm that the original problem has actually been corrected.

Stop Guessing and Find Out Where the Water Is Going

If you’re constantly adding water to your pool, your autofill never seems to stop, or you’ve already performed a bucket test and confirmed unexplained water loss, continuing to refill the pool isn’t solving the problem.

Las Vegas Pool Bros can help find the source.

Our leak detection process is designed to narrow down where your pool is losing water so the problem can be addressed without unnecessary guesswork. And when the source is identified, Las Vegas Pool Bros can also help with the repair work needed to get your pool back to normal.

Whether the problem is around the skimmer, equipment, pool structure or plumbing system, the first step is figuring out exactly what you’re dealing with.

Schedule pool leak detection with Las Vegas Pool Bros and let’s find the leak, determine the right repair, and stop that water from disappearing.