We want to paint our in-ground, gunite swimming pool and when we emptied the pool there are two 2" plugs and a grate covering another hole in the middle of these two plugs. We have no idea what this is. We released the two plugs and ground water came up out of them. Again, the middle hole is just that, a hole with a metal T bar inside of it. We don't want to pull on it in fear we will break something. If you know what this is, please let me know. Now, here's the problem. How can we paint our pool if ground water keeps seeping up from these two 2 inch holes? Will it be safe to plug these two holes back up for about 4 days until we are done painting? I'm afraid our pool will come out of the ground. Please help.
Thank You.

Welcome to TFP!

You don't want to leave the pool empty with those holes plugged for very long. That does run some risk of the pool floating, especially since you now know that the ground water level is above the bottom of the pool. The best thing to do would be to lower the ground water level while you are doing the work. If you are luck there are already some well points, if not you could install two or three, and put sump pumps in them to keep the ground water low while you are doing the work.

By the by, Why are you painting? We don't recommend painting pool as paint never lasts very long and generally isn't worth it.

It's too expensive right now to refurbish the pool with anything else, so painting it is our best option. One pool company recommended "marbleizing" the pool, until they came out and looked at it. Our pool doesn't have tile on the upper surface and they said we would have to get it tiled before they can marbleize it. The total cost would be about $12,000 for the whole job. Then there is fiberglass and liners and that's out of the question, so what else is there? Our last paint job lasted 12 years. It held up beautiful. The only reason why we are repainting is because the color faded so much it looks white. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions?