Bridgeport’s Parks and Recreation found the proverbial needle in the haystack. In reality, they found the leak under the concrete.

 

On Thursday, a more than year-long dilemma involving water loss at the Bridgeport City Pool appears to have reached a successful conclusion. Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Joe Shuttleworth said workers found a leak that almost certainly led to the loss of tens of thousands of gallons of water during the most recently completed pool year.

 

“Counting before the start of the pool season, this was the third place we were thinking there might be a leak,” said Shuttleworth. “We thought of the three this area would be the least likely for a leak.”

 

Area one was dug up prior to the pool season. Area two was dug up this past week and actually looked promising. P&R Director Don Burton said the ground initially showed signs there might be a leak.

 

“The workers started doing cutups of concrete (Tuesday),” said Bridgeport Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton. “It was some really aggressive work to seek out this leak and due to the initial water we noticed, we thought this might be the problem area.”

 

The first hole dug out during the week was saturated with water. However, Burton said it appears that was likely the case due to a storm system that came through as the work was beginning.

 

On Thursday, P&R workers hit the jackpot. And they knew it immediately.

 

“Once the concrete was busted, water was shooting out. The water is pressurized going to our stainless steel pool and that’s why it was literally just shooting straight out,” Shuttleworth said.

 

The area where the leak was discovered was in the corner of the pool closest to the lifeguard rooms. It’s also the area near the restrooms.

 

The problem involves PVC piping that actually connected into the stainless steel body of the pool’s frame. Shuttleworth said it appears a rubber gasket or a phalange that may have become dry rotted is the main culprit.  

 

Shuttleworth said that was the main leak. He said there were other minor leaks in the same area that were dug up.

 

The discovery ends the search that started prior to the pool season this year and began in earnest this week once the pool was closed. Along with the city digging up an area they suspected to be the reason for the leak prior to the pool season opening, Burton brought in some outside help hoping to shore up areas that could be leading to the leak.

 

The reason for that is the water usage at the pool for the prior year was up tens of thousands of gallons. Burton opted to go with areas that could most easily be leaking, but the minor repairs that were done did nothing to stop the water loss. The city even put a camera down several lines hoping to find the leak.

 

“Not only were the numbers telling us there was a problem, but you could see each day, even this year, that the water had dropped more than you just would get from it coming out during a regular day of activity,” said Burton.

 

Burton was extremely hopeful the first hole would yield results. However, once they dug three and a half feet down into the area behind the stainless steel area in question, they knew they needed to look elsewhere.

Shuttleworth said he talked Thursday with Christian Marsh of Quality Machine on making the fix due it requiring some welds in some difficult areas.

 

“I’m certain he’ll be able to handle this and everything should be back in order before the weather turns,” said Shuttleworth. “Once those fixes are made, our staff will re-concrete the areas in question.”

 

Burton said the water losses led to financial ones. Now, he’s hopeful that this discovery and ultimate fix will get things back in fiscal order.

 

“We were able to tell that we were losing thousands of gallons each day,” said Burton. “That’s tens of thousands of gallons of water that costs thousands of dollars during the course of the year that we have to pay for that we simply don’t have in our budget. That’s why there was urgency on this once the pool season ended.”

 

Although the pool is closed for the season, Burton said the operational system is still running. He said he expects the 2015 season to be fine for residents and visitors.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows area where leak was found, while second photo was the first area dug up Tuesday. Bottom picture is the main leak area.