We are losing way too much water and chlorine in these summer months and need to look into a cheap pool cover. Don't really want to spend hundreds of dollars on a top of the line custom fit affair, unless its a really good deal, but looking into what other options I have; for example DIY. Could I just get a cheap tarp and cut it up? Will that last long in the sun and not affect the chemical balance in the water?
What are your thoughts/experiences?
Don't buy a cheap cover from eBay, I did, still cost $200 but was rubbish, barely lasted a season without all the bubbles peeling off and having to fish out constantly.
Now have a daisy cover, not custom fitted just off the roll, was $500 (10m pool) with a 7 year warranty - which if you read it is invalid as soon as you put it on your pool - but has already lasted a season and a half without any bubble loss and feels much thicker and just a better quality.
A cover will certainly reduce water loss substantially.
Like anything you get what you pay for.
Grab a bucket of water and place it on your pool step. Make sure the water level in the bucket is the same as the pool.
2-3 days later, check the levels if the pool water level is lower than the bucket, you have a leak.
Another way if you have a salt pool, is your salt levels shouldn't go down too much, unless you have a leak.
We learnt the hard way.
After pouring money down the drain on chemicals it was all slowly leaking out.