If you’ve never had a professional pool leak detection done before, it’s natural to wonder what actually happens when a technician shows up. Here’s a walkthrough of what to expect when you book a leak detection visit with Splash Pool Leak Detection in Sarasota.
Before We Arrive
When you call or book online, we’ll ask a few quick questions: how much water you’re losing, whether the pool has a spa or water feature, and when you first noticed the drop. This helps us bring the right equipment and gives our technician a head start on where to look first.
Step 1: A Visual Inspection
We start every visit the same way — walking the entire pool, deck, and equipment pad before touching any tools. We’re looking for wet spots, cracked tile, settling around the shell, and anything unusual near the skimmers, returns, or main drain. A lot of leaks leave visible clues if you know where to look.
Step 2: The Bucket Test
Next, we confirm the pool is actually losing more water than evaporation would explain. We run a simple bucket test alongside the pool to compare water loss inside the bucket versus the pool itself over a set period. This rules out normal Florida-summer evaporation before we move on to more involved testing.
Step 3: Dye Testing
If we suspect a structural leak — around a light niche, skimmer throat, or crack — we use a dye testing kit. A small amount of colored dye is released near the suspected area underwater. If there’s a leak, the dye gets pulled into it, showing us exactly where water is escaping.
Step 4: Pressure Testing the Plumbing
Underground plumbing leaks don’t show up with dye tests. For these, we pressure test each return and suction line individually, isolating the plumbing from the pool itself. A drop in pressure on a specific line tells us which pipe run has the leak, often narrowing it down to a section of yard before we ever dig.
Step 5: Acoustic Listening Equipment
For leaks in underground lines that are hard to isolate, we use acoustic listening equipment that can detect the sound of water escaping through a pressurized line. This lets us pinpoint a leak’s location on the surface without guesswork, which saves you money on repair excavation.
What You Get When We’re Done
Every visit ends with a clear explanation of what we found — or didn’t find — along with photos, test results, and a straightforward recommendation. If it’s a simple fix like a skimmer gasket, we’ll tell you. If it’s a plumbing leak that needs excavation, we’ll explain exactly where and why before any repair work starts.
How Long Does a Visit Take?
Most Sarasota pool leak detection visits take 60 to 90 minutes, depending on how quickly we isolate the leak. Plumbing leaks that require multiple pressure tests can take a bit longer, but we won’t leave until we have a clear answer or a clear next step.
If your Sarasota pool is losing water and you want to know exactly what a leak detection visit involves, learn more about our Sarasota leak detection service, or call us at 941-599-3921 to schedule.
