Collapsing pool liner

[AussieSwimmer]

Hi everyone,

I am feeling a bit glum tonight. The in-ground pool we inherited has a history of neglect, and I was given a caution about the state of the vinyl pool liner during inspections, but went ahead and refilled the pool anyway. (it was left almost empty during the house sale).

As we're getting near the full mark, the rate of separation of the pool liner has increased suddenly - this might also be related to a fine warm day today.

I tried pulling up on the lip of the liner in one place where it has separated, but I can tell that there's a LOT of tension on it - probably no way at all the the liner lip can be reintroduced to it's mounting point from the top. We're currently just about 2 - 3" below the fill line (before it reaches ports and strainer basket).

Under these circumstances, is there ANYTHING to be done to rescue and get some use out of this liner? Absent that, I'm afraid this project is over for this year - I'm out of work, so needing to manage expenses carefully. So frustrating that the prior owner did not take the required care of this situation. I have tarps at separation points around the pool, draped over the lip and down the sides, to prevent rainwater getting behind the liner.

Leaving aside aesthetics, and just going for function, I'm even wondering if there's a way to drill into the walls and establish some kind of strapping with anchors, to prevent further separation. Any ideas are welcome. I was looking forward to swimming at our new address, after having worked so hard on so many repair issues here! - Grant.