Pool Newbie Opening Pool This Season

[Ethereal_Dragon]

So, I have had my house for a year so far, and aside from the mortgage being far more than I want it to be, pretty much all is well...... expect for the pool.... lol..

I've got a 15' or so pool in the back yard.... maybe even 10' across, and 4' deep. I figure about 5000 gallons (didn't do math, that number just sorta poped into my head... guess I will have to measure it)... Anywho... Water was CRYSTAL CLEAR when I bought the house, and it was a nice pool. I have no clue how to care for a pool, so that was my girlfriends job (the Ex now, but not cause of the pool, lol). Well, care of the pool slipped, and it was nasty when I covered it up for the winter.... I tossed in a spare sump pump, and duct taped a pool hose to it, and flipped the switch. I left probably about a foot of water in the pool. With all of the rain & snow melt since october when it was covered, the water was back up to about 3 feet or more, and REALLY nasty looking.

To put it this way.... when I tossed the sump on the pool cover to get the 5" or water off the top (green with algae & mosquito larvae in it YUCK) I thought that was the worst of it.... Well, no... After I uncovered it, it looked & smelled like someone did a #2 in it, and didn't flush.... left festering since October.... Oye.... I sumped out about a foot or so before work, about 2 feet of water left. (I CAN go to the pool store, but the problem is I have no days off till 05/29/08, so I would rather go the read about it online and DIY...

Thanks

I have had 2 suggestions so far at a non-related forum (computer nerd forum), suggesting 1. Have a pool guy do it, and 2. Fill up the pool and run the filter, and skim out the chunks.... Here was my response to that...

"You guys are saying to start the pump up, and just run that and vacuum.... the problem is that, IMO, (not sure... I am a pool N00b!!) it needs to be drained completly, and re-filled.... THEN run the filter.... This thing quite literally looks horrendus..... Use your toilet for a bout 3 days and don't flush.... probably about what this looks like.... brownish and murkey, many leaves, and also Trillions of Mosquito larvae.... well, maybe billions after emptying 1/3 of it this morning....

The other thing is that the filter inlet is about 6" from the top of the pool, so I would have to fill it all the up, and then hook up the filter.... I have some mods planned for the filter line... I want to add a cut off valve to the inlet & outlet, because I have had to remove the pump for maintenance, and it is a pain in the rear to take off the pump (or just cleaning out the pump's filter)... The inlet from the filter to the pump is about 2-3 feet long, and there is no valves or anything.... same with the end of the filter to the outlet... I will draw a quick paint diagram for reference...."

[EDIT] Also, I am not sure as to the age of the pool, or anything like that, how often does the pool's liner need to be changed? [/EDIT]

[QueenQuad]

Hi - Sorry, can't really help much, but want to say that a pool is a daily maintenance thing. You have to take proper care of it or face the nasty consequences later. But I do appreciate the laugh you gave me describing your problem (sorry!)

[Ethereal_Dragon]

Well.... I picked up some pool cleaning gear Wednesday at a local pool store, and started to clean the liner that evening..... EPIC FAILURE..... Because I emptied all the water out of the pool, the sun baked the liner which caused it to become brittle. One of the brushes pushed right through it.... Need to get it replaced now....

So, for any other newbiew...... DON'T EMPTY YOUR POOL!!!