The Hole

For the last three weeks my pool has been losing water. Lots and lots of water. At first I wanted to blame it on hot, dry weather leading to evaporation. However, I had never before lost water at such a fast rate with mere evaporation. I knew there had to be more to the story and it involved something I didn't want to think about... a hole in my liner. Puddles of water and mushy ground at the edge of my pool confirmed what I didn't want to face. There just had to be a hole.

Today I decided to suck it up and go on a search for a breach in the liner. It was a hot day and I was going for a dip anyway. I donned my SCUBA mask and started a slow, tedious scan of the bottom of my pool. Looking for a hole may sound easy, but I assure you it's not. To start with, I have a liner with a pattern in it (everything in the print of that pattern looks like a hole). To compound the problem, every speck of dirt, every leaf particle and every dead insect (yes, bugs sometimes get in the pool) looks like a hole. Long story short... my quest was NOT in vain. After a long afternoon of holding my breath on exploratory dives, I found the source of my leak. It was indeed a puncture in my liner. It was a crescent shaped hole about a quarter inch in length. When I put my finger on it I could feel suction (a sure sign water was leaking out of the pool). Although I can't say for sure, the size and shape of the puncture would indicate the culprit was possibly somebody's toe ring. I'll never know the true cause and in the end it doesn't really matter.

Can a hole under water be repaired? If so, did I get it repaired? The answers are yes and yes. Thank Goodness I had a vinyl pool repair kit on hand. A vinyl patch and some stuff that resembled rubber cement (It's called a wet patch) patched the hole in short order. Only time will tell if the repair holds. I'll know the repair was successful if my water level doesn't drop and if the muddy ground outside my pool dries up. I'm fairly confident the patch did the trick. It was an adventure today (one I would rather have not endured), but all's well that ends well.

It's always something! Sheesh!