Set aside 30 minutes to take the test. During this time no water should be used on your property.

Make a note of the current reading on your water meter. If you are having trouble finding your meter, most units are in the ground, in a box near the front of your house.

Come back in 30 minutes to check the meter. If the numbers are the same as they were when you started the test, you do not have a leak in the pressurized water system and you can stop the test here.

If the numbers did change, go inside and shut off the valves under all your property’s toilets. Repeat the test.

If the numbers did not change after shutting off all the valves, it means the leak is coming from a toilet.

If the numbers changed even after turning off all the valves, you will need a professional leak inspection. Contact American Leak Detection of the Triad to schedule an appointment.

For an idea as to how big your leak is, subtract the numbers showing on your meter of the test from the number you wrote down at the beginning. The result is the total number of gallons of water your leak is wasting (some municipalities have different means of measurement).

Have your pool filled to its standard level. Using a 5 gallon bucket, fill it 1 inch from the top with pool water. If you are performing this on a commercial pool, turn any autofill valve off and close access to the pool. Homeowners also need to check if they have an auto-fill device and turn it off.

Immerse the bucket in the pool to about 5 inches. Setting it on the first or second step of your pool should suffice.

Mark the water level inside the bucket and the water level outside the bucket.

Come back in 24 hours to compare the inside water level to the outside water level. If the water level outside the bucket has dropped more than the water level inside the bucket, you likely have a pool leak and need to call a professional. Contact our team at American Leak Detection of the Triad.

Make a note to check the bucket at exactly the 24 hour mark, as waiting longer than this can give inaccurate results. If it rains you will have to wait and start over when there is a clear forecast. After the test, use our pool water loss calculator to find out how much water is being lost to the leak.