jtees4 wrote in
:

On 5 Jun 2006 17:38:18 -0700, "Dee5" wrote:

I just bought a new house that has a large above ground oval pool in
the back. During the winter it was covered, no other winterization
techniques were applied.

I used a sharp vac to suck the excess water
off the cover but it must have had a small hole somewhere because I
noticed the water level in the pool dropping; it was leaking on to the
cover and I was sucking it out.

Well after I realized this I attempted to remove the cover but it was
so heavy from taking on water that I couldn't get it off without
dumping the excess water (and the leaves) into the pool. When I
initially removed the cover, the water wasn't that bad, slightly green
but still mostly blue. Now it is more green than blue.

I have started using the net to collect the leaves from the bottom of
the pool and am using the vacuum to remove them as well.

I bought sildate (I prefer it to chlorine) and an algaecide as well but

I don't know what to do with them. What is the step-by-step process to

getting my pool ready for swimming? Do I have to get all the leaves
from the pool before I start adding stuff to it?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

I had to dump my cover into my pool when opening it last week. Long
story..I was alone and couldn't pull it out so I just let it go. Pool
was completely green. I manually took the leaves out (I bought a leaf
type skimmer thing..worked really well) I threw in shock. I ran the
filter at the same time. I had to backwash the filter every half hour
or so. I probably did this about 5 - 6 times. I let the filter run all
night. Got the few remaining leaves the next day and the pool was
fine.

You're supposed to pump or siphon the water off the cover before
attempting to remove it. Many pool owners who do thei own pool openings
use a sump pump for this.