Water displacement is a very common occurrence and common cause of water loss in an above-ground pool during the winter months while the pools are out of sight, out of mind, and not being monitored. Heavy weight accumulating on top of the winter cover via rain, leaves, debris, snow and ice commonly push the pool cover down and—therefore--displacing the pool water up and out of the pool. We’ve seen pools get displaced down to 1’ of water! It’s like sticking your fist in a cup full of water! It’s easy to jump to the conclusion there’s a leak, but I tend to be a bit more cautious when we just uncover the pools early in the spring. Before paying for a scuba diver or leak detection services, if you want to be sure, all you have to do is slowly fill the pool up by 6-8”, then let it sit for a day; do this when there is no forecast for rain. You can monitor the water level with a piece of painter’s tape on the liner. If after a day’s time the pool doesn’t substantially drop (more than ¼” is a leak, up to ¼” could be evaporation--depending on the weather), fill up another 6-8” and wait another day. If you get to the point the pool is full and holding, just open it up and swim! If at any point in time you add some water to the pool and it does drop, then we can discuss leak detection or patch options.
36 Comments
Marcie bentz
5/4/2021 07:24:11 am
This is the first i experienced water didplacement. How can it be prevented? Larger winter pillows under the cover? Constant cover draining?
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7/30/2021 09:57:13 am
I want to make sure that I take good care of my pool. It makes sense that being ready for water displacement would be important. I'll be sure to get a professional to help me out with this.
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1/16/2022 08:27:43 pm
These are great tips! Thanks for sharing. Perhaps, you can remove few liters of water in the pool before covering
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