How To Locate a Hole on the Bottom of a Pool Liner

Finding a hole in a pool liner is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one if you find you have to fill your pool more often than usual. If you do see this happening to your pool, there are ways to determine if in fact you are losing water to a hole and how to locate that hole. It may take some time and persistence, but it is worth it. Once you find the hole, you can repair it or have a professional come to repair it for you.

1. Determine that you do in fact have a hole. Before you go searching for a hole, you want to make sure that you do have one and are not just losing water to regular evaporation. In certain conditions, it is not strange to lose 2 inches of pool water per week, due to evaporation. To find out if you are losing water due to a leak, fill a bucket with water. Place the bucket on the top step of your pool. The water in the bucket should be level with the water in the pool. Allow the bucket to remain untouched for a week or so. After that time, check to see if the water in the bucket is still level with the water in the pool. If it is not, you have a leak.


2.  See if something on the ladder, skimmer plate, or return plate has punctured the liner. Get some food coloring and slowly drop it around one of these areas at a time. After dropping some food coloring, watch to see if it is sucked into a hole. If there is a hole in one of these areas you will see the food coloring being sucked in and will know where the hole is. If this is the case, you can stop here.


3. Look around to see if you can see anything that looks unusual. This is often time consuming, liners can have patterns, making it hard to see a hole. If you think you see something, use the food coloring test again to see if it gets sucked into a hole.


4. Using your hands, feel along the walls and floor of the pool for the tear. If you know someone who dives, you might ask them to come over to check out the bottom of the deep part of the pool for you. Work slowly and methodically, so you do not miss finding the hole.