Hi there. I have a water leak in a pipe in one of the zones in our in pool cleaning system. It is UNDER the pool, at one of the joints where the pop-up head pipes come together. Yes, under the pool - yay... 
We had leak detection to come and find the leak. They used all their fancy equipment to pinpoint where it is. There are a few options we have been given and some conflicting information depending on who I talk to, so I am looking for some other advice. Here are our options:
1. Plug the zone that is leaking and switch to a vacuum. This is obviously the cheapest option. I am not a fan of the pop up heads anyway (they break and don't do that good of a job). Here is the main option where we have been given conflicting information. The company we hired to find the leak tried to plug the pop up heads with these plugs that would leave a wing nut sticking out over top of the pool surface. They said that the type of pop-up heads we have don't make plugs and that they can't find any other plugs the right size to fit in the holes. I told them that wasn't an option because wing nuts sticking out a) look bad and b) is a safety hazard. They also said that I need to plug the line from both ends (where the pop-up heads are in the pool and in the actuator where the gears are) and remove the gears. Apparently I do not have a normal return line to the pool, the only return line is through the pop-up heads. (Is there anyway I can verify this? - there is a return line on the equipment, but they said it is to the spa). Another pool person I talked to said that was incorrect and that I only needed to turn off the power to the gears. This to me would indicate that water isn't supposed to get through the pop-up heads when they are off and closed down. Is this true? This might be supposed to be true, but my pool was dropping water when the system was off, so obviously the water was getting through the pop-up heads.
2. Cut into the bottom of the pool and fix the leak. This would be the most "correct" way to repair the leak, but I am not a fan of cutting into the pool We have had to have the pebble-tech finish repaired in another area due to a leak and it has popped out and now it looks bad. So I am worried the same thing will happen to this if we get it fixed this way. Also, it would cost at a minimum $3k. That is just the quote the leak finding company gave us.
3. Full refinish of the pool. We are not at all interested in this option. The pool is ~18 years old (we didn't install it), and we hope to move in a year anyway so don't want to dump that much into the pool.
I have included several pictures. Also - how long can my pool sit empty in AZ? One person said it doesn't matter it is pebble tech finish, and another said I am reaching the upper limit (3 weeks now).
We had leak detection to come and find the leak. They used all their fancy equipment to pinpoint where it is. There are a few options we have been given and some conflicting information depending on who I talk to, so I am looking for some other advice. Here are our options:1. Plug the zone that is leaking and switch to a vacuum. This is obviously the cheapest option. I am not a fan of the pop up heads anyway (they break and don't do that good of a job). Here is the main option where we have been given conflicting information. The company we hired to find the leak tried to plug the pop up heads with these plugs that would leave a wing nut sticking out over top of the pool surface. They said that the type of pop-up heads we have don't make plugs and that they can't find any other plugs the right size to fit in the holes. I told them that wasn't an option because wing nuts sticking out a) look bad and b) is a safety hazard. They also said that I need to plug the line from both ends (where the pop-up heads are in the pool and in the actuator where the gears are) and remove the gears. Apparently I do not have a normal return line to the pool, the only return line is through the pop-up heads. (Is there anyway I can verify this? - there is a return line on the equipment, but they said it is to the spa). Another pool person I talked to said that was incorrect and that I only needed to turn off the power to the gears. This to me would indicate that water isn't supposed to get through the pop-up heads when they are off and closed down. Is this true? This might be supposed to be true, but my pool was dropping water when the system was off, so obviously the water was getting through the pop-up heads.
2. Cut into the bottom of the pool and fix the leak. This would be the most "correct" way to repair the leak, but I am not a fan of cutting into the pool We have had to have the pebble-tech finish repaired in another area due to a leak and it has popped out and now it looks bad. So I am worried the same thing will happen to this if we get it fixed this way. Also, it would cost at a minimum $3k. That is just the quote the leak finding company gave us.
3. Full refinish of the pool. We are not at all interested in this option. The pool is ~18 years old (we didn't install it), and we hope to move in a year anyway so don't want to dump that much into the pool.
I have included several pictures. Also - how long can my pool sit empty in AZ? One person said it doesn't matter it is pebble tech finish, and another said I am reaching the upper limit (3 weeks now).
