location of main drain pipe

[sks24]

So what's the best way, or what are some options, with respect to capping the main bottom drain? My goal in this instance is to control for any leaks which might be associated with it. The main drain hasn't functioned properly for over ten years, and I assume this is the case because there's a hole in the return pipe which allows too much air to bleed in while the pump is trying to suck water through it. The current main bottom drain does does have a pressure relief valve in it, and I may replace it by way of determining whether that's the source of the leak. What I would like to do is cap the bottom drain, but have an easy way to uncap it if needs be: say, if I decide to try to repair the return pipe, or replace the pressure relief valve.

Right now I'm a few hours away from having the pool drained. I'm going to remove the bottom grate, and also the pressure relief valve if possible, so that I can get serial/parts number.

Thanks in advance,
Scott

[sks24]

After a hiatus, I've decided to dive back into this pool project. My pool has a leak, and it's probably associated with a faulty pressure relief valve, or perhaps a pipe separation at the bottom drain due to the pool having floated out of the ground @ one inch at one side of the deep end. It's been like that since before we owned the house, and the pool didn't have a leak until about two years ago. So I don't think the leak is a function of the pool floating up out of the ground a bit.

I decided to try to remove all the groundwater from around the outside of the pool. That way I can work on the main drain, pressure relief valve, and repaint the pool surface. My water table is @4-5 feet below the surface of the ground, and that's where the water level in my pool is. I've been able to drill down about 12 feet using the method described here: http://drillyourownwell.com/index.htm I can't go deeper than 12 feet because gravel accumulates at the bottom of the well hole, and my (metal) bit can't get through the gravel. But maybe 12 feet is enough, as the pool is 8 feet deep.

I haven't hooked up the well pump yet. What I'm hoping is that I can pump out water, and as I do so the pool will drain as well, through where I presume the leak is. In other words, as I lower the water table in the immediate vicinity of the pool, water in the pool will drain. Presently the water level in my pool mirrors the water table outside of the pool, so this seems like a reasonable supposition.

My questions:
1) Let's suppose my DIY well and well pump won't drain all the groundwater around the pool. How does one go about achieving this? Do I hire someone to come out and dig a big ditch and put a pump in it? Does one drill through the bottom of the pool and pull the groundwater out through the hole?

2) Let's suppose that I get "close" in terms of draining the water around the pool with my well and electric well pump, which is rated to pull water from as deep as 25 feet. So the water level inside the pool gets down to, say, three feet deep. I think I could then then go ahead and pump the rest of the water out of the pool and cap the bottom drain so I can paint the pool. I think it would be fine to do that, as I have drained the pool completely before without removing any groundwater at all, and the pool hasn't floated up out of the ground of the ground any more than the @inch is has already on one side of the deep end. (It's been like that since before we owned the house.)

So, my question is, how do I cap the drain so that water can't get in or out, and I can repaint the pool surface?

I would also remove the old pressure relief valve, replace it with a new one, and refill the pool to see if it holds water. If the pool still leaks, then I would want to cap the main drain somehow. I guess I could cap the drain hole, and leave the new pressure relief valve in so if people empty the pool of water it would fill back up with groundwater.

But, again, there's zero paint on the sides of the pool. So I want to do that, too.

Thoughts, advice?

Thanks,
Scott