1. Hook up the pump and filter. Plugin the pump to make sure it works. Check O-rings, lubricate if needed, and make sure unions and ball valve connections are tight. Re-thread drain plugs and pressure gauge if needed. 2. Fill the Pool. 3. Clean cover and remove. First, remove water and leaves. Clean cover with Stow-Away while it’s still on the pool if possible. Clean water tubes with Stow-Away. Store cover in a big trashcan, wet, with stow-away to prevent mildew and dry rot. 4. Remove return plugs, skimmer covers, and all other plugs. 5. Vacuum debris. If there are too many leaves dip them out with a leaf rake first. Sand filter: Start pump up with valve in “waste” position and run for 30 seconds to 1 minute to remove any anti-freeze from lines. If there is a lot of debris and you have a sand filter, vacuum on WASTE. Hook up manual vacuum and vacuum to Waste. When finished, backwash filter, rinse filter and then turn the valve to filter for normal operation. D.E. Filter: Hook up manual vacuum, turn on the pump with drain valve open and return valve closed, vacuum to waste any debris. If you have the main drain with antifreeze in it and you do not need to vacuum, run the pump as above for at least 30 seconds. Next clean the filter thoroughly, close the drain valve and open the return valve, and turn on the pump. When all air is out of the system, add your required amount of D.E. 6. Brush down walls. If there is a black ring around the pool, clean it with OFF THE WALL. 7. Add start-up chemicals. Add chemicals as we have directed you. AFTER the pool has run for 24-48 hours please bring in a  Read More

After you have filled the pool and taken the cover off, before you do anything else, please vacuum your pool to waste. This will remove all of the dirt and algae that have settled out over the winter before your pump and filter get a chance to stir it up. We recommend you vacuum your pool to waste, fill the pool back up, turn to filter, and run the pool for 24hrs. After all of that is completed, please bring in a water sample so that we can get you going on your chemicals! As always, if you have any questions, please call, 618-775-6543. ?