Question about using the bucket method to determine if I have a pool leak

[mas985]

A deep bucket may lose slightly less water than a shallow bucket if the wind is blowing so if you put the bucket on one of the lower steps so the water level is closer to the top of the bucket, you can eliminate any differences between the bucket and the pool.

[CarlD]

Unless the bucket is smaller at the top than the bottom (and most are the other way--wider at the top), it's likely to lose water faster than the pool. 5 gallon paint buckets are straight-sided so their rate of loss is the same, given what Mark pointed out.
1/4" per day is a lot (assuming that's 1/4" more than the bucket), and if it's still doing it with plugs, you have a leak in either the pool wall or around the fittings. I can think of a number of causes of leaks when the returns and drains are uncapped. I wondering about a badly cracked return/drain fitting, that seals partially with a plug...But that's idle speculation.