barkalot

I have an 18' above-ground pool (about 6400 gallons). I let it go over the fall and winter and didn't cover it. I know, big mistake. Now it's completely green, full of algae and has leaves and such at the bottom. I thought I could just filter and shock it and be good to go by swimming season. Now I am not so sure because the filter lasts about 30 minutes before becoming so clogged with slime it stops filtering and I have to clean it which takes several minutes. I skimmed off what I could with a net and have done the same with some of the debris at the bottom. I haven't shocked it yet. It does seem to be getting better but I am wondering if I should just abandon my efforts, bite the bullet, dump the water and refill. I didn't want to do this since I would be wasting precious water (and the electricity it costs to pump it from our well), not to mention wasting the salt in the water (we have a salt-water system). I'm kind of wondering now if I am using an equal amount of water while cleaning the filter every 30 minutes. Any ideas other than not making the same mistake next year?