Things You'll Need:
- 5-gallon bucket
- Marker
- Diving mask
- Red food coloring in a plastic squeeze bottle
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Step 1
Place a 5-gallon bucket on the pool step or ladder step inside of the pool that is just below the water's surface. Fill the bucket with enough water to exactly match the water level outside of the bucket and then use a marker to note the level on the outside of the bucket.
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Step 2
Wait 24 hours and observe the water level in the pool and inside of the bucket. If they are still identical, then there is no leak. If the water in the pool is lower than the bucket level, then there is a pool leak.
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Step 3
Turn off the pump and filter system and allow the water to become perfectly calm so any tear or puncture may be visible. Use a diving mask or goggles to view the entire floor and sides of the vinyl. If there is a suspicious mark and you think that it may be the hole, or if water has accumulated directly outside of the pool, then test to determine if it is the leak.
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Step 4
Keep the water as still as possible and if the location is near the surface, carefully squeeze ten drops of red food coloring out of the bottle as close to the surface and to the side of the pool as possible. If water is leaving the pool there, the red tinted water will slowly make its way to the hole and will appear to point it out exactly, looking like a long wispy finger.
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Step 5
Submerge the bottle and release the ten drops lower on the wall or near the vinyl floor of the pool if that is where the suspected leak happens to be. The object is to get the coloring as close to the suspected hole as possible, so that it can leak out and point you right to the hole.
