Well,I first had to add sufficient water to get the skimmer properly covered, then I turned it on to filter. The really big junk gets caught in the skimmer anyway, and the rest backwashes out. I'm now ready to put in another dose of DE and a skimmer sock. It was SO full of junk that a skimmer sock would have been clogged in about 7 minutes!

But the key first, last and always is lots and lots of chlorine.