Is my pool leaking? (standing water)

[timell1]

Ok, so I was walking around the yard last week and found a few spots that had wet ground. oops, not good. So I grabbed a shovel dug a small hole and it slowly filled up with water. Yikes, not feeling good.

So where was this water found? Well, our pool is built on a sloping hillside, it's about 11 years old and has no visible cracks.

The area where I saw the water was about 15 feet away from the pool and at a level equal or below the bottom of the pool. So the house side of the pool is in ground and filled to the top with dirt. On the other side (leak side) there is a built up earth wall with rocks and fill and it slopes away into the yard. I looked at the area on the leak side right next to the pool and saw no signs of water or moisture. So 15 feet away from the pool and down the hill below the bottom of the pool I have water pooling in a small hole. Is this coming from my pool? To test this I tried two things. First I did the bucket test and after a 1 1/2 days, I'd have to say the levels are the same or too close to call. Second, I did a water test on the water. Should I expect to see traces of chlorine in the water? I would think so, but is it possible for the earth wall/rocks to filter it out? Anyways, there was no trace of chlorine in the water. Also I would think due to the location of the wet ground that it being below the bottom of the pool that I would see the water running or overflowing the hole?

So my question is, should I expect to detect chlorine in the water if my leak is coming from the pool? or is it possible for the earth to filter it out?

If not the pool, my next possible culprit for the leak would be the sprinkler system. But the closest lines are 25 feet away and up the hill. I would think that a sprinkler leak would show up at the sprinkler heads or nearby; not go underground, travel under a concrete staircase and show up 25 feet away.

Could this be some sort of underground trench? I've never noticed the area wet before in the past 9 months that we've lived in the house.

Ideas? who should I call to help out? pool guy? leak detector? Civil Engineer?

Thanks,
Tim