Even though I own and operate Caltech Pools, I also manufacture LeakTronics, Water Leak Detection Equipment. At LeakTronics, we are constantly building and developing new products. In the past 3 years we have received 2 patents and developed products such as the PipeMic, SlideMic (with F.L.A.S.H. System) and we are months away from coming out with our brand new state of the art amplifier. Recently, my office manager asked me to look into developing a leak analyzer. After doing some research on the various manufacturers and their leak analyzers and talking to my customers and trying one out for myself, I decided against it and here’s why:
1) Too many variables – all pools are different with different shapes, designs, features (i.e. raised spas, catch basins, etc.) 
In order to use a leak analyzer in a pool with all of these features, you would need 3 units-it doesn’t make economic sense. Some pools have boulder type coping around it and it’s nearly impossible for any leak analyzer to properly determine if there’s a leak, since it needs to be laid flat on the ground. 2) Inaccurate – after purchasing a unit and setting it in my small spa (approximately 500 gallons), the unit stated that I was losing 3/4 of an inch per hour. Flat out impossible. My spa hasn’t leaked since I’ve lived here and it held at the spillway for 24 hours after the test. 3) It doesn’t locate the leak.
So let’s say a contractor has success with the unit and used it to determine that a pool is leaking. You still need to perform a complete leak detection to figure out where the leak is.
I would be horrified as a customer if I hired a pool leak detection company to perform a leak detection on my pool and they used a leak analyzer product. It would tell me that they are not being too thorough and that they think they know my pool better than I do. If it’s my pool, on my property and I know that I have a leak and I call 
someone to come out and check the pool for the leak, that’s what I expect. I don’t expect someone to come out with a leak analyzer to tell me what I already know! If a company has to come out and rely on a leak analyzer to give them information instead of what I tell them, they can’t be too swift. I know my pool better than they would, don’t you think? So as a consumer, I’m still left in the dark and I would never agree to pay a company unless I’m sure my pool is leaking before we made the appointment.
In closing: as a day to day leak detection contractor, I have realized that there are no shortcuts. Believing the information that your customer provides should be enough. Don’t rely on a leak analyzer to tell you what you already know. That tells a customer you don’t trust what they say. When a company like Caltech Pools comes to a customer’s home with an arsenal of tools prepared to perform a complete and thorough leak detection, you can rest assured we’ll locate the leak.
