Laguna Pools and Designs Ltd.
Since 1973
Water found when digging around a swimming pool in the Houston area, pool leak or not?
It’s not uncommon for a pool owner who happens to dig a small hole very near their pool in Houston to find some water, then worry their pool maybe leaking. There are many ways to check to see if a pool may have a pool leak. I’ll list a few of these in these later in this article. Getting back to where the water may be coming from, here are a few. Heavy rain showers, especially during the spring and fall along with backyard sprinklers, garden hose usage and just normal splash out from the pool are some of the regular contributors of water to a backyard. Once there, water will want to try and percolate down into the soil. Not all soils are created equal in our Houston area. We have many types of soil in our general Houston area including heavy and light clays, different types of sand and everything between. Most of these soils have some ability to percolate (absorb) water down into itself. The reason I mention this is that many pools are built in yards that have clay soils therefore we have a greater chance of standing water in low lying places.
When pools are constructed many large ditches are dug during the process. Normally our pools and spas at Laguna Pools located in the Katy area west of Houston have around 1000 ft. of PVC pool piping that encompasses the pool then runs back towards the pools equipment and other places in the yard as necessary. Since we normally have around 8 to 15 different pipe in each ditch we can never completely get all the soil packed tightly around all the pipe while being buried. This is one place that excess water can collect and be able to traverse around the entire pool. Actually not a bad thing since our piping and ditches normally run completely around the pool, therefore the water/moisture content in the soil around the pool tends to be more even. If though, say a yard has large Oak, the Oak would have the ability to pull out so much water in one area the yard the ground would shrink and possibly have adverse effects on the home, pool or both in time.
Most of the Houston and surrounding areas do have heavy clay soils. When you add in clay soils then sprinklers etc. and also dig a small hole in the yard there is a very good chance you’ll find water as some of our customers have found over the years. Even pulling out a dead shrub you may often see standing water in the hole, and that’s with or without a pool in the yard.
I personally have seen that many of our customers at Laguna Pools unintentionally overwater their yards. Many families after moving into their new home will often forget to re-set their sprinkler systems. The original sprinkler run times were normally set to put a lot of water out to keep the freshly laid grass and plant material alive in our hot Houston climate the first few months until rooted.
One quick and easy way to test to see if you may be losing an abnormal amount of water from you pool is the bucket test. Set a large plastic bucket half full or more on the first step of the pool. You only need to be sure that the bucket water level is higher than the pools water level, otherwise the bucket would float off the step. After the water in the bucket settles and the pool water is reasonable calm and flat mark the inside of your buckets exact water level height with a marker, then do the same to the outside of the bucket measuring the pools water level. The two should lose or gain water depending on the weather at roughly the same amount over the next few days.
Please keep in mind that the bucket is made from plastic, the pool from gunite concrete and other products such as cement, ceramic and glass tiles. Many types of natural and also manmade boulders and rock are also used in not only our pools here at Laguna Pools but at other area companies as well. Many pools also have water features that tend to add to the amount of water a pool would lose.
So yes, the bucket test can help a pool owner understand if he has probable cause to believe his pool may be losing water. Of course there are other tests that we run a Laguna Pools when it appears that there is a leak in the pool or its plumbing. Some tests that are much more extensive than others and can also cost up to Four Hundred dollars or more for a larger and more elaborate pool.
Here’s to your keeping your family, friends and neighbors happy and safe while in your pool this year.
Rob Traugott and his family have owned and operated Laguna Pools and Designs Ltd. since 1973. Having built thousands of pools in Houston, Katy and surrounding areas, their crews also regularly travel hundreds of miles from their base in Katy Texas building nationally recognized Laguna Pools. Rob has served several times as President of the Houston Chapter of the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals, having also been on the National Pool Builders Council and on the Region 3 board of the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals. They designs have won numerous regional and national design awards. Laguna Pools and Designs ltd. currently have one of the largest in-ground fully landscaped pool displays in the Nation.
