Almost every pool that is losing water gets blamed on one of two things, and people usually guess wrong in the expensive direction. Here is how to tell them apart before you call anybody.
In the Sacramento area, how much a still pool loses to evaporation depends heavily on the season: on the order of a quarter inch of water a week in winter, rising to around two inches a week at the height of summer, and more during a hot, dry, windy stretch. Wind matters more than most people think, and an uncovered pool on a breezy 100-degree afternoon can lose water fast without a single thing being wrong. Splash-out from swimmers, backwashing the filter, and draining a little after a rain all drop the line too. None of that is a leak.
A leak is persistent and does not care about the weather. Classic tells: you are adding water every few days, the loss keeps up even when nobody is swimming, there are soggy or sinking spots near the deck, or the water line drops faster with the pump running (a pressure-side leak) or faster with it off (a suction-side leak). If your loss is clearly more than the seasonal norm over a calm stretch (roughly a quarter inch a week in winter, up to about two inches at peak summer), it is worth confirming.
Free, and it settles the leak-versus-evaporation question in 24 to 48 hours. Both the pool and the bucket sit in the same air, so whatever they lose to evaporation, they lose together. If the pool drops more than the bucket, that difference is your leak.
Want to run the numbers first? The free tool does the math for you.
In the Sacramento area, plain evaporation swings hard with the season over a still, swim-free stretch: roughly a quarter inch a week in winter, climbing to about two inches a week at the height of summer, and more on hot, dry, windy days. If your pool drops noticeably faster than the norm for the time of year, or you are adding water every few days, it is likely a leak. The bucket test settles it: float a bucket of pool water on a step and compare how far the pool and the bucket each drop over 24 to 48 hours.
A detection specialist pressure-tests the plumbing lines, listens for escaping water with acoustic equipment, checks the equipment pad, and dye-tests the shell and fittings to pinpoint the exact leak before anything is opened up. The whole point is to locate it precisely, so nobody jackhammers a deck on a guess.
No. Down a Quart is a free referral directory, not a repair company. We match you with an independent, vetted leak-detection specialist. That independence is the point: because we do not sell repairs, we can tell you when it is only evaporation and you need nobody at all.
Most detection visits land in a few-hundred-dollar range, and the exact price comes from the independent pro you are matched with. Finding the leak first almost always costs less than the water, chemicals, and heat that a running leak wastes month after month.
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