You can find a pool leak without draining.

Yes. Most pool leaks can be located without draining the pool — and honestly, you usually shouldn’t drain it unless you know what you’re doing (draining can damage vinyl liners or pop a fiberglass pool out of the ground).

Signs of a leak are pretty obvious once you know what to look for: water level dropping more than a quarter inch per day in calm weather, soggy spots around the pool deck, cracks in the plaster or gunite, or air bubbles coming out of the return jets. If your autofill is running constantly, that’s another big one.

The bucket test is your first move. Fill a bucket with pool water and set it on a step so the water inside matches the pool level. Mark both. If the pool drops more than the bucket after 24 hours, you’ve got a leak. From there, grab some food coloring (or proper dye) and squirt it near suspected spots — skimmer fittings, light niches, return jets, cracks. If the dye gets sucked in, that’s your leak.

For plumbing leaks, you’ll need a pressure test kit or a pro with a listening device. But for shell and fitting leaks, the dye trick works fine. Don’t drain just to look — you’ll create more problems than you solve.

Save the draining for when you’re replacing a liner or fixing a major structural issue.