If your pool water drops more than a quarter inch per day, especially overnight or when the pump runs, you are almost certainly dealing with a leak, not evaporation.
Call (954) 290-5177 for a Free Estimate →A pool that keeps losing water every day in South Florida is almost always leaking. Normal evaporation in this climate runs about one quarter of an inch per day. If your pool drops more than that consistently, especially if the autofill keeps running, the water falls overnight, or you see wet spots in the grass, the pool has a leak somewhere in the shell, skimmer, light, return fittings, or underground plumbing. A licensed pool leak specialist can find the source without draining the pool.
South Florida pools do evaporate. Hot sun, low humidity days, and wind all pull water from the surface. But evaporation is gradual and relatively consistent, roughly one quarter inch per day in most conditions.
A leak behaves differently. It is consistent regardless of weather. It may be faster overnight when the pump is off, or faster when the pump runs, depending on where the leak is. It does not slow down after a rainy week the way evaporation does.
The fastest way to know which one you have is a bucket test.
Consistent loss above one quarter inch daily in South Florida is above the normal evaporation range.
An autofill that runs every day or cannot keep up is masking a leak, not solving one.
If the pool loses more water with the pump off, the leak is likely in the shell, skimmer, or a gravity-draining line.
If loss is worse when the pump is on, the leak is likely on the pressure side of the plumbing.
Soggy soil near the pool, equipment pad, or underground pipe routes is a strong sign of a subsurface plumbing leak.
If the pool levels off at the return jets or skimmer opening, it tells you exactly where the leak is located.
Soil voids caused by underground leaks can cause concrete and pavers to shift, sink, or crack.
Constantly replacing water dilutes chemicals. If chemistry is hard to balance, water loss may be the cause.
A pool that loses water every day can be leaking from several different places. In South Florida, the most common sources are:
A slow leak that gets ignored rarely stays slow. Water eroding soil under a pool deck creates voids. Those voids cause pavers to sink and concrete to crack. Underground pipe leaks can wash soil away from pool walls and footings over time. The water bill climbs. The chemical bills climb. And when the repair finally happens, it costs far more than it would have if the leak was caught early.
A leak that is losing a quarter inch per day above normal evaporation is losing roughly 380 gallons per week on a standard 15,000-gallon pool. That is not a maintenance issue. That is a system failure that needs to be found and fixed.
When a homeowner tells us the pool has been losing water for months and they thought it was just Florida heat, the first thing I want to know is whether the autofill was running. An autofill that keeps up masks the loss completely, the pool looks full, so nobody panics. But the water bill tells the real story. I have found pools losing 1,000 gallons a week or more through a single skimmer separation while the pool looked perfectly normal from the deck.
The bucket test takes 24 hours. If the pool drops more than the bucket, call us. It is not going to fix itself.
Leak and Subsurface Locators serves homeowners, real estate professionals, HOAs, and property managers throughout South Florida. We are based in West Palm Beach and licensed under Florida Certified Pool Contractor license CPC1457277.
Free tools from Leak Business Academy
Use the Leak Analyzer to score your symptoms, the Evaporation Calculator to check if your loss is normal, and download the free beginner guide to understand what a professional detection visit looks like.
Evaporation Calculator → Leak Analyzer → Free Beginner Guide →Call Leak and Subsurface Locators for a free estimate. We give you the price before we schedule and use non-invasive methods to find the leak without digging first.
Call (954) 290-5177 (561) 325-2678 (561) 325-2678In South Florida, normal evaporation runs about one quarter inch per day under typical conditions. Hot, windy, or low-humidity days can push that slightly higher. Consistent loss above one quarter inch per day, especially if it does not slow down after rain, points to a leak.
Yes. An autofill that constantly replenishes water can completely mask a leak. The pool looks full, but the water bill climbs month after month. If your autofill runs every day or seems to never turn off, the pool is very likely leaking.
If water loss is worse with the pump on, the leak is most likely on the pressure side of the plumbing, return lines, fittings, or equipment pad connections. When the pump pushes water, it also pushes it out through the leak faster. That pattern helps us narrow the search before we even start testing.
No. Leak and Subsurface Locators uses non-invasive methods including acoustic hydrophones, dye testing, and pipe testing to find leaks with the pool full and at normal water level. Draining is not necessary for leak detection and is actually counterproductive in most cases.