Slam dunk questions from a newbie

OK, so as I move on to the next chapter in my owning an above ground pool, I have the typical newbie questions. I KNOW the answers will be obvious when I hear them...but now I'm on this side of them and I just don't know what they are! Here goes:

When/how often do you vacuum the bottom of the pool with the hand vacuum? Does it have anything to do with keeping algae off the liner?
When/where do you use that long, skinny brush that came with the pool?
When do you use the Aqua Bug? Will it ruin my liner or even shorten it's life?
When and why do you "backwash" on the filter?
When do you use the "waste" setting on the filter?

We installed ourselves and there are no instructions on using these things if you can believe it. I am thankful I have youz guyz.

Shelley

1.When/how often do you vacuum the bottom of the pool with the hand vacuum? Does it have anything to do with keeping algae off the liner?

Whenever you have dirt/debris on the pool floor. Different for every pool. If you maintain proper water chemistry, you won't get algae.

2.When/where do you use that long, skinny brush that came with the pool?

To brush the sides and floor of the pool regularly - maybe weekly.[/COLOR]

3.When do you use the Aqua Bug? Will it ruin my liner or even shorten it's life?

When you have dirt/debris on pool floor. It is simply an automatic vac. Shouldn't hurt the liner. Someone who has one may have more to comment on it.


4.When and why do you "backwash" on the filter?

When the pressure on your filter increase by 8-10psi, then you backwash. It simply cleans out the filter.


5.When do you use the "waste" setting on the filter?

When you want to remove water from the pool. Maybe after a lot of rain and your pool is too full or maybe if you have a lot of algae and you want to simply vac to waste instead of sending it to the filter. The waste feature simply bypasses the filter.

Hope this helps.