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.