A bucket test compares the water lost from your pool with water exposed to similar weather in a bucket. It is a useful screening check before booking leak detection. It can suggest additional water loss, but it cannot show where a leak is or rule out every intermittent fault.

Prepare a fair comparison

Choose a dry period without swimming, backwashing or topping up. Disable an automatic top-up if you can do so safely. Use a stable bucket on a shallow step, partly immersed and secure against tipping. Keep children away and maintain the usual pool safety measures.

Mark both levels

Put pool water in the bucket and allow it to settle. Mark the water level inside the bucket and the pool level against a fixed point. A ruler and photographs make the comparison easier. Record the time, weather, cover position and normal pump settings.

Compare after about 24 hours

Measure the drop at both marks. If the pool falls noticeably farther than the bucket, investigate additional water loss. If the drops are similar, evaporation may explain much of the change during that test period. Rain, splashing, a shifted bucket or an automatic top-up can invalidate the result.

Avoid a fixed evaporation rule

There is no reliable daily loss threshold for every pool. Wind, heating, cover use, humidity and exposure change evaporation. The comparison under similar conditions is more useful than assuming that a particular millimetre figure proves a leak.

Keep the equipment safe

Do not run the pump below its safe operating water level. Do not drain the pool to investigate it yourself. If you want to compare pump-on and pump-off results, ask for guidance that suits your system rather than leaving essential circulation off indefinitely.

What to send the leak detection team

Send both measured drops, your suburb, photos and notes on pump operation. Our pool leak detection service can assess the next step. Read leaks versus evaporation for other clues.