Not too different, mind you, but hopefully a time saver since I don't have a whole day to devote to opening our pool this year.

What I'm doing is topping off our 24'x52" AGP with water before removing the cover. I drained to just below the return last fall and removed all of the flexible plumbing to store in the garage. So yesterday after work, I reassembled all of the plumbing. I peeked under the cover when I assembled my aqualuminator and the water is clear to the bottom.

Today I started putting water in the pool. The cover is still on, and I let the water run for a few hours. I still have another few inches to go, so I'll do the same tomorrow, maybe adding some bleach in front of the hose this time.

On Friday after work, I'm hoping that I'll be full enough to remove the cover and get the pump up and running. I'll test the water at this time and add chemicals as necessary, starting off with shocking with bleach.

My deck surrounds nearly half my pool, and I'm thinking that filling with water will also help in removing the cover. Has anyone ever tried it this way before? Is this a good idea or bad idea, or do you think it may even matter?

Another benefit that I can think of is that the black cover will help to heat the new water I'm introducing to the pool, making it swimmable that much faster, but it might not make a difference one way or the other depending on how chemically stable the water is.

I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on this.