Hey ya'll...
Opened my pool here in Virginia yesterday and as a rookie pool owner I
had a couple questions. Everything went pretty well and there was
minimal grossness in the pool once I got the cover off. Pumps started
fine. Two problems...

1) There is a line that comes off of the pump, splits into two lines
with a valve on each side, then they both go into the ground. I assume
they are the feed lines for the two drains on the bottom of the pool,
but not sure. Anyway, they are leaking about 6 inches above the
ground. It appears that they are PVC pipes with a plastic gasket
connection of some sort and a screw on plastic cover (kinda like a
mason jar cover that goes around the top of the seal). Is there a
reason those aren't just cemented PVC pipe? I assume they are leaking
because the gaskets are old, so is that something I can easily repair?
Or is is possible to just use PVC cement and seal them up?

2) Second, my sand filter had the small drain hole removed at the
bottom by the person who closed the pool. When I put it back in and
turn on the pumps there is leak from that hole. It looks like it was
caulked or had some other sealer put on there in the past. Can I just
caulk it with a kitchen/bath caulk to patch the little hole where the
screw in drain plug doesn't fit?

Any thoughts appreciated!