How to Static Pressure Test?

It is important prior to your test to make sure that you know how many outlets and how many lines you have.

Let me give you an example that may clarify some questions that you might have.

If you have 2 return lines as this spa equipment and 12 outlets into the hot tub then you have to find which outlets are connected together with every pipeline.

A simple way to figure it out is to run the spa equipment and use the diverter valve to close one of the lines and observe which outlets are not adding water into the hot tub.

The outlets that are not having any pressure are all connected with the line that you closed manually, and those that are pouring water into the spa are connected with the 2nd line.

Before you perform a static pressure you need to shut off the pool and/or spa equipment.

You need to make sure that there is no water movement into the pool or spa or both and that the water level is at the proper operational level.

Halfway through the skimmer box.

In this example, this hot tub has 8 return jets and all of them are sharing a single line.

That means only one pipe is connected to the heater or filter and this line splits into 8 outlets inside the spa.

So for this case I will use 7 close plugs and 1 open one that will dye test.

When you dye test try to release small amounts of dye with as minimum water movement and squirt dye as close to the opening as possible.

If there is a leak in the line, you will be able to observe the dye traveling into the line.

If there is NO leak you will observe no movement and the dye will slowly spread and dissolve in the water.

Although, that doesn’t mean that you have 100% NO Leak in this line.

I know this may confuse you but you need to consider 2 other factors in order to conclude there is no leak in the line.

The 1st factor is the pressure leak. If there is a small crack that doesn’t leak when the pump is not operating or leaks so slow that it’s difficult to observe the water loss with the equipment turned off.

That means that you will observe the drop only when the equipment is running.

The pipe will leak only when it’s under pressure. For this reason we call it a pressure leak.

The 2nd factor is, the leak may be located over the water level. If there is a leak at the equipment side and a leak located higher than the pool or spa water level there will be no water movement.

As a result you will observe no dye movement. As the first factor the line will lose water when the pump is running.

In both scenarios you need to pressure test the line in order to properly determine if the line has a leak or holds the pressure.

Static pressure tests will work for leaks that are constant and will lose water regardless of the operation of the equipment and as long as the leak is below water level.

If you have any questions about the Static Pressure please feel free to leave it in the comment section. I am always happy to help!

Also if you would like to learn how to properly pressure test a pool plumbing lines you definitely have to check out our video How to Pressure Test Swimming Pool & Spa Plumbing like a Pro

✅|| Step By Step

Chris Ilias

Pool Leak Detection LLC