I'm in the process of contracting a PB and working out the details for the pool configuration. It will be a vinyl w\steel wall 15 x 27' kidney (12k gallons) ranging from 3.5' to 6.5' deep. I live near the water on Long Island. I recently had a test hole dug on my property and found that the water table fluctuates between 4.5' to 6' below my yard surface depending on the tide. Most of the material that was found was sand, but there was some bog at the 6' level. The price for dewatering is 3k which includes the dewatering process and a hard bottom consisting of concrete mixed with sand and the installation of a dewatering pipe which can be used for future dewatering when it is time to change the liner. I complained to the PB about the price of dewatering and he said I could save money if I don't go with the hard bottom, which would mean using a sand bottom that comes with the standard pool package. Does anyone know what the pros and cons are of this scenario? I have a feeling the PB might be trying to make the deal seem more attractive, but I would prefer to spend the extra on the hard bottom if it will help me in the long run.