I own a row home so my yard isn't very big. My pool is only 12 foot round and 5 foot deep...above ground of course. I have a small tear in the liner which I repaired about a year ago. The patch looks fine but in the last week I've been losing aloooottt of water since this heat hit! I filled it up last night ..I lost about an inch over night but I lost about 3 inchs today. It was about 95 degrees and the heat index I believe made it 103. Is this typical...Do the rest of you find you lose a chunk of water when the heat is this bad?
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06:57 PM
PFF
System Bot
blackrams Member
Posts: 31841 From: Hattiesburg, MS, USA Registered: Feb 2003
OK, now I'm not making fun here, so be cool ok. It's called evaporation. I'm not suggesting you don't have leak, I assume it's sitting on grass or dirt, is it muddy or is the grass greener? You're gonna lose a lot of water due to evaporation with that kind of heat. I've got a 60 gallon horse tank that currently only one horse drinks out of. It gets almost emptied daily. No, the horse can't drink that much and there are no leaks. It's elevated so I can virrtually see any part of it I want to see. Just keep the garden hose handy and refill as needed.
------------------ Ron Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us. My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 08-03-2006).]
I'm losing about 2 inches a week in my 15 ft round by 4 ft deep pool a week. This is in central Texas. Hasn't rained in a month. Do you use it everyday? Do you splash alot when you do? You shouldn't really lose water overnight. I believe you have a leak.
Jeff The Pool Guy
[This message has been edited by BlueGT87 (edited 08-03-2006).]
For reference... Lows this week have been about 80 thru most of the region where he is. Nothing is cooling off over night.
Weather is supposed to break tonight across most of the area. This should help cool the pool but it will take a couple days. If the water loss doesn't slow, you have a leak. As it is you could have a small leak along with the evaporation. All it takes is a pinhole in the bottom someplace to bleed allot of water.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurasic Park)
I'm losing 3-4 inches every 24 hours, with 1+ inches of that being over night, in my 40x20' in ground vinyl pool. However, I just had a new liner installed, so it might be that the guys who put the liner in messed up. It would definitely be in line with the rest of the work they did. Sloppy.
We're loosing maybe an inch per day or so. Water is definately extra warm & it's hard to keep the chlorine level in line. Pool's maybe 15-20 K gallon in ground.
Lol...I know what evaporation is. I just thought maybe it was to much to be evaporation.
quote
Originally posted by blackrams:
OK, now I'm not making fun here, so be cool ok. It's called evaporation. I'm not suggesting you don't have leak, I assume it's sitting on grass or dirt, is it muddy or is the grass greener? You're gonna lose a lot of water due to evaporation with that kind of heat. I've got a 60 gallon horse tank that currently only one horse drinks out of. It gets almost emptied daily. No, the horse can't drink that much and there are no leaks. It's elevated so I can virrtually see any part of it I want to see. Just keep the garden hose handy and refill as needed.
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06:03 AM
firstfiero Member
Posts: 4879 From: york,pa,17403 Registered: Dec 2000
OK, let's also consider the relative humidity. Low humidity also means a higer evaporation rate. The air will suck it up! Still doesn't mean you don't have a pin hole leak but..............
------------------ Ron Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us. My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 08-04-2006).]
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06:55 AM
Aug 5th, 2006
Brian Lamberts Member
Posts: 2691 From: TUCSON AZ USA Registered: Feb 2003
20x40 inground.. Lose an inch a day at least I would say.. Damn hot out.
Growing up we had a 20 x 40 inground (poured concrete and floors in Western Michigan. It had some leaks where the walls met the floor, so it would leak early in the season, but would gradually slow down. 800 square feet is a lot of surface area, so an inch or two a day from evaporation (even in 85% humidity) wasn't out of line. We had to add water every few days to bring it up 3-4 inches.
Gallons (according to my Dad) was 32,000. After cleaning and painting, it could take 3 to 4 days to fill with a garden hose. And the water was very cold for a while.
Growing up we had a 20 x 40 inground (poured concrete and floors in Western Michigan. It had some leaks where the walls met the floor, so it would leak early in the season, but would gradually slow down. 800 square feet is a lot of surface area, so an inch or two a day from evaporation (even in 85% humidity) wasn't out of line. We had to add water every few days to bring it up 3-4 inches.
Gallons (according to my Dad) was 32,000. After cleaning and painting, it could take 3 to 4 days to fill with a garden hose. And the water was very cold for a while.
Yeah, 32000 sounds about right. I think ours is 120000 liters or so (what a waste of water).. DItto on the cold thing.. Can't seem to get the frikkin temperature right..
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12:23 PM
jstricker Member
Posts: 12956 From: Russell, KS USA Registered: Apr 2002
1 gallon is .134 cu/ft so you can figure it out if you know diamter or area and the depth of the pool. A 20 X 40 X 6 ft deep pool would be 4,800 cu/ft and 35,820 gallons.
John Stricker
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02:17 PM
jstricker Member
Posts: 12956 From: Russell, KS USA Registered: Apr 2002
If you can find it, the NWS keeps track of what they call "pan evaporation rate" and record the results. They have an "official" 4' diameter by (I think) 2' deep pan they fill to a precise level at a given time each day and measure how much evaporation they have. This varies widely by location, of course, but they have many such sites where they record this. Factors that contribute to variation are the temperature of the water, air temperature, wind speed, humidity (dewpoint), solar radiation, and others.
Normally, in TX, during July the pan evaporation is about 10" per month depending on location, but in 1953 when we had weather conditions similar to this year, it was as high as 15" per month or 1/2" per day. This doesn't mean your pool should only lose 1/2" per day because it's conditions may not be the same as the pan, but if it's losing more than double the recorded pan evaporation rate then you probably do have a small leak some where.
OK, now I'm not making fun here, so be cool OK. It's called evaporation. I'm not suggesting you don't have leak, I assume it's sitting on grass or dirt, is it muddy or is the grass greener? You're gonna lose a lot of water due to evaporation with that kind of heat. I've got a 60 gallon horse tank that currently only one horse drinks out of. It gets almost emptied daily. No, the horse can't drink that much and there are no leaks. It's elevated so I can virtually see any part of it I want to see. Just keep the garden hose handy and refill as needed.
Plumb a Toilet ball **** into it and it will fill as needed. That's how ours was a life time ago.
"My God! Somebody's stealing my water! It just went down the drain... They're crafty, I tell you; It happens when you least expect it. SHOW YOURSELVES, DAMN YOU!!!"
If you can find it, the NWS keeps track of what they call "pan evaporation rate" and record the results. They have an "official" 4' diameter by (I think) 2' deep pan they fill to a precise level at a given time each day and measure how much evaporation they have. This varies widely by location, of course, but they have many such sites where they record this. Factors that contribute to variation are the temperature of the water, air temperature, wind speed, humidity (dewpoint), solar radiation, and others.
Normally, in TX, during July the pan evaporation is about 10" per month depending on location, but in 1953 when we had weather conditions similar to this year, it was as high as 15" per month or 1/2" per day. This doesn't mean your pool should only lose 1/2" per day because it's conditions may not be the same as the pan, but if it's losing more than double the recorded pan evaporation rate then you probably do have a small leak some where.
John Stricker
I was going to check some old Physics books about Vapor pressure/ temp, and relitive humidity. But I think John hit the nail on the head. Always go with empirical evidence, vs. theoritical. God bless the Extension Services.
------------------ Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto. Turning white on top, like owner. Leaks a little, like owner. Doesn't smoke, unlike owner
[This message has been edited by DtheC (edited 08-05-2006).]
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08:01 PM
WrenchingPilot Member
Posts: 268 From: Virginia, USA Registered: Jul 2005
O.K. I gotta ask what got ***** in this? I just cant imigane it.
Brad
lol, plumbing terms are dirty the ***** word is c.o.c.k. as in ballc.o.c.k. What I belive he is suggesting is to have a float controlled valve in your pool. Thus when the water level dips, it will automatically refill and keep your pool at your desired level.
Isaac
------------------ 86 Fiero 2.5L, 5spd. 00 Ford Focus 2.0L 5spd 66 Chevrolet C10 250 cid, Powerglide
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08:07 PM
PFF
System Bot
Aug 6th, 2006
Whuffo Member
Posts: 3000 From: San Jose, CA Registered: Jul 2003
OK, here's the easy way to tell if it's evaporation or a leak:
Fill a bucket with water and set it next to the pool; mark the water level in both. Check back tomorrow; the water loss due to evaporation will be the SAME in both; if the bucket goes down one inch and the pool goes down one inch it's all due to evaporation.
If the pool goes down faster than the bucket, you've got a leak.
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02:15 AM
DjDraggin Member
Posts: 2854 From: St Louis, MO. USA Registered: Feb 2003
wondering.. would that work actually? Cause a one sq foot bucket has less water then a pool with 100 something sq feet of water across its top. So wouldnt the bucket evap faster then all that surface area? Just something Im wondering.. or is it like gravity with a bowling ball and a golf ball?
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11:59 PM
Aug 7th, 2006
Whuffo Member
Posts: 3000 From: San Jose, CA Registered: Jul 2003
wondering.. would that work actually? Cause a one sq foot bucket has less water then a pool with 100 something sq feet of water across its top. So wouldnt the bucket evap faster then all that surface area? Just something Im wondering.. or is it like gravity with a bowling ball and a golf ball?
It works fine. The amount of water in the container doesn't matter, just the number of square inches of the surface area. Since evaporation is proportional to the number of square inches, the water loss in inches is constant for any straight-sided container.
So if you put a bucket of water and a glass of water out in the sun, the water level in both will drop at the same rate. The pool will drop at the same rate, too...
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02:55 AM
firstfiero Member
Posts: 4879 From: york,pa,17403 Registered: Dec 2000
Wow..this turned into a bigger discussion then I expected. I'm still losing alot of water so I went down to again check a patch and it seems It was coming off. so I put a few patchs on it. Hopefully that holds...Thanks for all the info though.
I just thought maybe it was to much to be evaporation.
Thats not exactly a refreshing swim. lol
