Dealing with a pool leak?
Call us at 214-972-3330 for professional detection and repair
You step outside to check your pool and notice the water level has dropped—again. You filled it yesterday, and now it’s down several inches. You’re adding water every few days, your water bill is climbing, and you’re starting to wonder if something is seriously wrong.
You’re not imagining it. And you’re definitely not alone.
The short answer: If your pool is losing more than a quarter inch of water per day in normal conditions—or an inch or more per week—you likely have a leak. While some water loss is normal due to evaporation and splash-out, consistent daily water loss is a red flag that shouldn’t be ignored. Left unchecked, even a small leak can waste thousands of gallons, damage your pool structure, erode the soil around your foundation, and lead to repairs that cost far more than catching it early.
Why Pool Leaks Are So Common in North Texas
If you live in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, or anywhere in the DFW metroplex, your pool faces unique challenges that pools in other parts of the country don’t.
Expansive clay soil is the biggest culprit. North Texas sits on some of the most reactive clay soil in the country—with over 50% clay content in many areas. This soil expands dramatically when wet and shrinks when dry. During our hot, dry summers, the ground contracts. When the rain comes, it swells back up. This constant movement puts enormous stress on your pool shell, plumbing connections, and equipment.
The American Society of Civil Engineers reports that damage from expansive soils costs Texas property owners more than hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes combined—an estimated two billion dollars annually. Your pool sits right in the middle of this shifting ground.
Add in our extreme temperature swings—from 100°F summers to sudden winter freezes—and the seals, fittings, and connections in your pool are under constant assault. It’s not a matter of if they’ll eventually fail, but when.
Is My Pool Leaking or Just Evaporating?
This is the first question every pool owner asks—and it’s the right one. Some water loss is completely normal, especially during a Texas summer.
Normal Evaporation Rates in Dallas
In the DFW area, pools typically lose about ¼ inch of water per day to evaporation during hot summer months. On extremely hot, dry, windy days, that number can climb higher. Over a week, losing 1 to 1.5 inches to evaporation alone isn’t unusual.
But here’s the key: we have clients who go five months without any noticeable water loss beyond normal evaporation. If you’re refilling your pool every few days, or losing an inch or more daily, evaporation isn’t your problem.
The Bucket Test: A Simple Way to Know for Sure
Before calling anyone, try this simple test:
1. Fill a bucket with pool water and place it on a pool step (so it’s exposed to the same conditions as your pool).
2. Mark the water level inside the bucket and mark the pool water level on the outside of the bucket (or on your pool wall).
3. Wait 24 hours. Don’t use the pool during this time if possible.
4. Compare the levels. If the pool lost significantly more water than the bucket, you have a leak—not just evaporation.
This test works because the bucket and pool are exposed to the same sun, wind, and temperature. If evaporation were the only factor, both would lose water at roughly the same rate.
Where Do Pool Leaks Usually Happen?
After 13 years of locating leaks across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we’ve found that most leaks occur at penetration points in the pool shell—the places where something passes through the concrete or gunite. Learn more about our pool leak detection process:
• Skimmers – The plastic body of your skimmer meets the pool shell, and this connection is a common failure point.
• Return jets – Water returns to your pool through fittings that penetrate the wall.
• Main drains – The drain at the bottom of your pool has seals that can deteriorate over time.
• Light fixtures – Pool lights require a housing that penetrates the shell, and the conduit behind them is a frequent leak source.
• Plumbing lines – Underground pipes can crack, separate at joints, or develop pinhole leaks.
Builders typically seal these penetration points with glue, grout, caulk, or rubber gaskets. But those materials deteriorate over time—especially when exposed to pool chemicals like chlorine, acid, and shock treatments. Pool remodeling can also damage these seals without anyone realizing it.
Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
Beyond daily water loss, watch for these red flags:
• Cracks in the pool deck or coping – Water escaping underground can wash away soil and cause concrete to shift and crack. This may require pool crack repair.
• Wet spots in the yard near the pool – If an area of your lawn is always soggy (and you’re not watering it), water is coming from somewhere.
• Pool deck sinking or becoming uneven – This indicates soil erosion beneath the concrete.
• Constantly running autofill – If your autofill system runs frequently, it’s masking a leak.
• Difficulty maintaining chemical balance – When you’re constantly adding fresh water, your chemicals get diluted and unbalanced.
• Algae growth despite proper treatment – Chemical imbalance from water loss creates conditions where algae thrives.
• Unexplained increases in your water bill – Losing an inch of water per day in an average pool means losing about 200 gallons daily—over 6,000 gallons per month.
What Happens If You Wait?
We understand the temptation to “wait and see.” Maybe it’ll fix itself. Maybe it’s not that bad. But here’s what we’ve seen happen when pool leaks go unaddressed:
Soil erosion accelerates. Water constantly escaping underground washes away the soil that supports your pool, your deck, and potentially your home’s foundation.
Small cracks become big cracks. A hairline crack that could have been sealed for a few hundred dollars becomes a structural failure requiring major repair.
Plumbing damage compounds. A small pipe leak can undermine the ground around it, leading to pipe breaks and even more water loss.
Pool equipment works harder. When water levels drop, your pump and filter strain to maintain circulation, shortening their lifespan.
Foundation problems develop. In the worst cases, we’ve seen pool leaks contribute to foundation movement in nearby homes—a repair that dwarfs any pool work.
The bottom line: every day you wait, the leak is doing more damage. What starts as a $500 repair can become a $5,000 problem—or worse.
Can You Find a Pool Leak Yourself?
You can certainly try the bucket test to confirm you have a leak. Beyond that, DIY leak detection gets tricky.
Some homeowners attempt dye testing—squirting food coloring near suspected leak areas and watching if it gets pulled into a crack. This can work for obvious, visible cracks in the pool shell. But most leaks aren’t visible. They’re in underground plumbing, behind light fixtures, at skimmer throats below the waterline, or in places you simply can’t see or reach.
Professional leak detection uses specialized equipment—pressure testing for plumbing lines, electronic listening devices that detect water escaping through concrete, and systematic inspection methods developed over thousands of jobs. We’re often called in after other companies have failed to find the leak, even using similar equipment. The difference is experience. We use what we call the “process of elimination” method—systematically ruling out possible leak sources until we pinpoint the exact location.
That said, if you want to check some things yourself before calling a pro, here’s what you can do:
• Inspect visible equipment. Check your pump, filter, and heater for obvious drips or wet spots on the equipment pad.
• Look at the skimmer. Is there visible separation between the skimmer body and the pool wall?
• Check tile and coping. Loose tiles or cracked coping can indicate underlying problems.
• Note when water loss occurs. Does your pool lose water faster when the pump is running, or when it’s off? This tells us whether the leak is on the pressure side (return lines) or suction side (skimmer, main drain) of your system.
What to Expect from Professional Leak Detection
When you call a leak detection company, here’s what a thorough inspection should include. As a full-service pool leak company, we handle every step:
1. Visual inspection of the entire pool, deck, equipment, and surrounding area.
2. Pressure testing of all underground plumbing lines—skimmers, returns, main drain, and cleaner line if you have one.
3. Dye testing at all penetration points and any visible cracks or separations.
4. Electronic leak detection if the leak isn’t found through visual and pressure testing.
5. Clear explanation of what was found, where the leak is, and what repair options you have.
Important: Leak detection is the diagnosis—it doesn’t include the repair. We strongly recommend working with a company that does both. That way, the same team that found the leak is responsible for fixing it properly.
Stop the Guessing—Get Answers
If your pool is losing water every day, don’t wait for the problem to get worse. The sooner you address a leak, the less damage it causes—to your pool, your property, and your wallet.
At Mr. Pool Leak Repair, we’ve been finding and fixing pool leaks across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex for over 13 years. We’re a full-service company—we don’t just find your leak and hand you a report. We fix it, and we back our repairs with a 3-year no-leak warranty because we stand behind our work.
If you’re tired of watching your water disappear and want real answers, give us a call. We’ll get you on the schedule quickly, find out exactly where your pool is leaking, and give you a clear path forward.
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Mr. Pool Leak Repair serves Dallas, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, The Colony, Carrollton, Richardson, Southlake, Fort Worth, and communities throughout the DFW metroplex.
Ready to fix your leak for good?
Call 214-972-3330 or contact us online to schedule your leak detection.
