Maybe a dumb question but...

[zebfam]

I am curious to know the right answer.

We have a 18 round metal frame pool (first year). I have been making sure I have the regular cover on (which is a pain to get on and off) when it rains so as to not get rain water in the pool.

Is this really necessary? Does it matter if rain water gets in the pool?
We got a ton of rain the other day/night and even with the small holes in the pool cover the pool water level was a good amount higher than before AND the cover had tons of water on it. We usually keep the solar cover on and if it does not matter if the rain water really goes in the pool I will just keep using the solar cover only since it is easier to get on and off.

We ended up draining some of the pool water out of the pump to get it to the right level again and I assume this is ok?

[JohnT]

Rain water is fine. It will dilute your chemicals, but it also lowers alkalinity and calcium hardness, which can be a problem for some pools. With my fill water TA over 400, I love rain water.

[pool newby]

It keeps me from having to top off from loss due to evaporations, and if I get too much water in there from heavy rains, gives me a good excuse to backwash and clean the sand filter.

[NWMNMom]

Ditto, I have had to do that a few times just in the last 10 days. Just watch your chemical levels as he said - dilution.

[matt4x4]

I appreciate the rain, matter of fact, I channel runoff from my roof into my pool to help top it up since this is my only source of water (next to buying it by the truckload)

H2O is H2O, chemicals can always be adjusted, crap can always be killed off.