​Terms of Service/Warranty

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24 hour water loss measurement

For both new and existing customers, determining your pool's 24 hour water loss is the first step to figuring out if your pool has a leak or is only losing water from normal evaporation (which can vary heavily depending on the weather and a variety of conditions from humidity, temperature, sunlight exposure, and seasonally). It is important to understand refraction of light can make it difficult to accurately measure fractions of an inch by eyeballing it so we recommend using both a measuring device and reference point (piece of tape, chalk/grease pen mark in skimmer, etc).

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To perform a 24 hour water loss, we recommend making or using a reference point at the current water level and measuring how much the water level drops in 24 hours at this same point. We recommend performing this measurement first with the pump off. The next round of testing should be done with the pool running on the normal pump schedule. It is normal the water loss is slightly more (1/8"-1/4") with the pump running because there is more exposure with a turbulent water surface and water running through the equipment. 

If the pool doesn't lose more than normal evaporation until a waterfall/water feature is used, likely there is a leak in the waterfall fixture or feed line plumbing. It is expected to lose slightly more from evaporation (and not a leak) with a water feature for the same reason (increased evaporation) as having the pump running will show a slight increase in loss.

 

*** All pools experience evaporation and taking an accurate measurement is how we can tell the difference between a leak and normal evaporation loss. ​

Aquadoctor Leak Detection's service is for an inspection of the pool and pool plumbing to locate the source of a water loss issue and when possible, resolve it the same day either permanently or with a temporary solution (isolating lines, epoxy patch- sometimes very reliable repair such as around fittings or in grout and sometimes less reliable such as a plastic crack in a light niche or interior of a skimmer or skimmer adapter fitting). If we have completed a leak detection and found the issue, the pool is still going to lose water as expected from standard evaporation (up to 1/4" per day). To minimize evaporation losses, it is recommended to get some type of pool cover but ultimately, it is not possible to prevent evaporation entirely. Our service area is limited to the greater Venice and Sarasota regions, Englewood, Lakewood Ranch, North Port, South Bradenton, North Port Charlotte, Wellen Park, Osprey, Nokomis, Vamo. We do sometimes take jobs outside of the listed area but if our job volume is high, our main focus will be in these areas for scheduling new jobs. The best way to know is to call and provide us with your address so we can let you know the schedule or if we are available in that area. We have received calls from as far away as Orlando which is way outside of our area and we do not currently travel this far to provide any services.  ​

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***CALL BACKS***- before we return to a job that has already been tested in the event of a continued leak, the following should be provided by the customer: 

-pictures of 24 hour water loss measurements (preferably with pump totally off or automation in service mode and then a 24 hour water loss measurement with pump on normal schedule)

-if you have a hot tub, pictures of the hot tub water level as well as the pool (this is also very helpful to have for measurements performed when diagnosing how much water the pool is losing because it may help us narrow in on the leak source and also could indicate an issue with the check valve which keeps elevated hot tubs from equalizing with the water level in the pool and is often mistaken for a leak. We do replace some check valves at a low cost as part of the leak detection when applicable. Not all check valves can be easily replaced but all check valves will need to be periodically replaced or serviced)

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REQUIREMENT: ALL recommended repairs after the leak detection are performed. If the homeowner did not perform the recommended repair after our leak detection, most of the time this is the cause of the leak and continued water loss. It is not in the terms of our service to return to jobs where the homeowner has not performed the recommended repairs. Aquadoctor is a LEAK DETECTION specialist and company NOT a pool repair company beyond the repairs we provide during our leak detection service: this is what saves our customers the most money and has been our business model for years. The repairs we perform during a leak detection are often able to fully resolve water loss issues but sometimes may only be a temporary fix (good example would be epoxy patch on a plastic crack inside the skimmer- this could provide temporary water loss prevention but is unlikely to be a long term solution vs epoxy in the tile/plaster interface with the front plastic of a skimmer which can be a long term fix that may hold for many years). There are many cases where an epoxy patch will fully solve the leak issue but other times where it is just a temporary solution; this largely depends on the location of the patch (as explained in previous example). We will usually attempt to fix a leak we can access but in certain places it is a toss up how well the epoxy will hold such as a cracked plastic light niche or over a structural crack that may continue to grow.  Anytime a homeowner spends a significant amount of money on a property repair, it is always wise to shop for the best quality and price from multiple available contractors and not assume a repair will follow a leak detection- if a larger repair is not needed, we will not attempt to influence our customers to get one; if we do recommend a larger repair being necessary to solve a pool leak issue that is because a larger repair is needed to fix the issue. This is the key difference between our service and the one stop shop leak companies with in-house repair crews whos business model will rely on providing work to their repair crews. If a skimmer leak can be solved with epoxy, we will not recommend a skimmer be replaced for $1000+ while leak companies who perform skimmer replacements will likely advise this is the only option. It is up to the discernment of the pool owner whether this larger repair is required and when. We provide the analysis and diagnostic testing to help make a better informed decision following a thorough leak detection of the entire system. When a larger repair is recommend, we will provided several experienced local pool repair companies who are CPCs, remodelers, and pool builders to contact for multiple bids (recommended) and perform any and all repairs which are required and go beyond the scope of the repairs offered during our leak detection service such as conduit sealing, epoxy patches, plumbing line isolation and abandoning, etc. Aquadoctor assumes no liability for homeowner or handyman (non pool repair CPC licensed) work. We have had plenty of homeowners perform plumbing repairs and other work with great success; some of it is very straightforward especially after the issue has been properly diagnosed and pinpointed during the leak detection. Pool repairs are relatively simple when you know exactly what the cause of the issue is and where it is located. Aquadoctor is not liable if a customer or unlicensed pool repair contractor chooses to perform work they aren't licensed to do and doesn't perform it competently. 

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Aquadoctor Leak Detection (Aquadoctor, Inc) provides pool leak detection services (as well as other services listed on the "Other Services" tab and more). This includes non-destructive testing all areas of your swimming pool to determine the source of the water loss issues. While we provide an estimate over the phone, on rare occasion there will be other factors that will increase the cost of the job but this will always be communicated before work is performed. The most common reasons for this are if we don't receive pictures and find there are features such as infloor pop up cleaners, additional skimmers, a secondary pump, additional pluming lines, etc. The best way to avoid this when asking for an estimate is to email or text us pictures of your pool and pool plumbing so we have accurate information to use in giving our service estimate.  After a leak detection or inspection, records from the job such as reports, pictures, and videos from jobs are normally kept at least one year. Receipts and reports are provided when the service is provided. 

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Leak detection is sometimes not an exact science when leaks under the slab or deck occur and we are relying on acoustic properties to locate the precise location of a plumbing issue during pressure testing. We use the best technology available to pinpoint plumbing leaks as accurately as possible during pressure testing and with the XLT listening device. We try to get our accuracy to 100% but this is not always the case in the real world but if we locate a slab leak and it is in the wrong location, we will do everything possible to retest and locate it. Leak detection service does not guarantee an exact location for a slab leak, usually it becomes very obvious where the leak is once the pavers or slab are removed. We also use a hydrophone and some other trade secret methods to be as accurate as possible in locating leaks under decks. when leaks are in the yard and under sod, digging may be required to pinpoint the location of the plumbing issue. We do our best to preserve the top layer of sod and not dig anymore than we have to but there will be sod and landscaping impact from digging to find a leak. This is unavoidable and we make our best effort to minimize digging and the effects to the property caused by digging. We have never had an issue with a customer being upset over us digging in their yard when finding the source of their pool leak but it is important to understand this may be part of the leak detection and leak locating service provided. 

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***ALL PAYMENTS ARE DUE WHEN SERVICES ARE PROVIDED*** 

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For our out of town customers, we accept the following electronic payment methods: Zelle transfer (preferred), Cashapp, Venmo, PayPal,  and Credit Cards. I believe we can even take crypto these days if needed. We may require an installment be made if a homeowner is not going to be present to make payment at the time of service or there are extenuating circumstance. Customer is responsible for any related processing fees which is why zelle, cash and check are the easiest and preferred since there are no fees. If a customer wishes to prepay or is asked to pay ahead of time (not a standard practice but may be requested for out of town homeowners), we will accept an electronic prepayment also (no checks in the mail, there are so many other readily available options to instantly send funds). ​