Thinking of replacing the liner, but looking for suggestions

I have a 20' x 40" simple rectangle in-ground with a vinyl liner of some undetermined age. We bought the house in 1999 and it was fairly fresh, but now it is completely bleached out and is pulling away from the top in a few spots.

My knowledge to date is pricing out some new liners on the internet (in the swim) to get a rough idea of the cost of the material, but installation? I have no idea. The local pool shops are pretty shark-like, so I hesitate to even call them for quotes.

So I have a few questions if anyone has done this (or had it done)...

I estimate the water volume at around 30,000 gallons. I have a pump that would do the job in maybe a day or so (one of those submersible pumps), but it seems a terrible waste of that much water to pump it all into the street, and then have to run the garden hose for a week to refill it. Not to mention the water bill.

So I approached a guy at the fire dept and asked if I could use their equipment to pump out the water, store it, and then pump it back in. He said they want the old water because it is chlorinated, which wouldn't be true after 6 months of being covered. He also said their trucks only hold 3000 gallons that they pump from their town well, and each load costs $50. He also did not seem keen on the idea even with the '"donation"

So, I'm at a loss for the best strategy to pull this off...drain it, pay a pro to replace the liner, then refill for the cheapest cost I can manage. Any ideas?

Just an edit...one pool company quoted me $2400 for the full job in the Spring. Drain, replace with 28 mil liner of my choosing, then use my garden hose to refill. Not sure if this is a reasonable deal or not. I'd estimate that the water would cost $700 based on my meter rate (city water).

I don't know what part of the country you're from, but when I had mine replaced 2 years ago, that was very close to what I paid. Just check into the warranty he's willing to offer, and see if that includs smoothing/repair of the floor before the new liner is installed.

I live in New Jersey Janet.

I also called another pool store in the area and he quoted me $3400 for the full job, again with my own water supply to refill. But obviously he is quite a bit more expensive.

On the other hand, he did caution me on the "Chinese crap liners" that are on the market, so now I have to worry about that too.

Hi Orion:
That's an old scare tactic. "The other guy sells crud. I have the only good product!" Ignore it.

I have a 16'x40' and it's a custom size. Still, a replacement liner is about $1000--for the liner. Add that to the water for $700, and you've got about $700 for the labor. Seems $2400 for the job is fair to me.

But get references. Not EVERY vender here is a scam artist, but you must hunt.