Either the water came from the step jet connections or somewhere nearby. It's possible the gaskets around the jets let go or water flowed from up hill somewhere else. Alas, the only way to find out will be removal and will cost.The prices seem a bit steep though. Get some other estimates. That is a lot of money to not be looking around unless you have a really high confidence level is this service. I would even have/ask my customers to shop around. Scott

Jennifer and Tresw, Thanks a lot for your advice. In fact, we swam today in the pool, yeaaaahhhH! Well, not really swimming, because the water was cold, about 60F and because I let the garden hose running in fresh water for an hour to lift up the level, but as a side effect it got even colder... But the clarity is now great. It is amazing comparing to a week ago, when was a swamp... What a miracle. I got the 4 way test kit, as suggested by TRESW and the readings were not that bad. Chlorine was really really low 0.4-0.6, but Ph was just right 7.6 and TA was 80 ppm (could have been 70 ppm, but with the background coloring I could not really say). The leaks are really big issue though. I broke the cement around the skimmer and now I can see the top plastic of the feeding tunnel (about 3-4 inches deep down), and it has about 0.5 inches water. What is even more worrisome is that the water is about 2" above the pool level, which means that the walls are all filled up with water all the way to the concrete deck and it is overflowing from any crack the water can get through. Also, the lines around the concrete deck are wet, as I dug about an inch deep around and now water started amassing around. And this is on the other side of the pool... I am having a serious leakage, that is for sure. I will rent these days a power hammer from Home depot and I intend to break to pieces the deck. The problem is I have not decided what to do with the debris yet. Any suggestions? As for the dead animal, I am no longer worried. I cleaned, and shocked, and cleaned, and shocked and now I believe there is nothing left from it... I hope. I certainly will avoid any contact of the water with my mouth for the next month or so, but overall I think I am over this now :) Thanks for all support and advice. If something else comes out, please shoot. I am ready to make some pics and post them online for discussion. Best, Lubo

Pool must be drained and where cracks (settling) is taking place, refilled and smoothed over. It is good that you are going to use the pool until August to see if any other settling takes place. Enjoy the pool and don't worry.

Maybe the pool was put in by the crew that installed my pool. Came home from work to find the shell backfilled and the forms and welded wire mesh in place for the concrete pour around the perimeter of the pool. Looked great. Pretty excited. Then I saw that about 2/3rds of what used to be a roughly 30 cubic yard pile of organic soil (mostly mushroom compost) was missing. I scratched away at the topsoil to find they backfilled the pool shell with mushroom compost, over two feet deep in some places. Then they covered the mushroom compost with about 3" of subsoil to make it all look purdy. Not an accident for sure. The owner of the pool company's best line? "Well, you're probably going to move in three or four years, the slab probably won't crack until after you move, so what's the big deal? My best line? "You're fired." I do love my pool...