All for nothing

     About eight years ago I built a small reflecting pool, with added dye to make the surface black, aiding in reflecting the trees above it.  The first photo shows it last year..
     The last two years the pool had a mysterious leak, as it was erratic, and it never dropped more than three inches in this 12-inch-deep pool.  This spring I discovered two holes chewed by rodents near the top in one side of the rubber liner.  Figuring this might be the source of the leak, I reworked the liner to raise it up above the water line.  That did not help, and I could not hear or find any other leak after filling the pool.  So, I figured I must have a leak farther down.  Thus, I had to take out every one of the dozens of rocks, then look for the leak.  Nothing.  Then I put the rubber liner back, holding it up with a few rocks.  Next, I filled the pool with water.  No leak!  Baffling!  Finally I emptied the pool again and replaced all the rocks, trying to raise the liner higher than it had been earlier, as that might have been the problem.  Sure enough, no leak, problem solved.
     Now, I am looking for a way to recover the ten hours I wasted "solving" a non-leak.