Can a dumb person learn to do their own pool stuff?

[FLgirl]

I bought a house with approx 10,000gal pool. Ingroung, colored cement. It has curves so I'm kinda guessing on the amount of water in there, but it's pretty small. Supposedly heated, but I don't know how that works and it isn't an issue yet. It has a light, which makes me nervous - electricity and water and all that.

I don't know a pump from a filter. I know there is a knob that I can move to two spots to get water out of the pool when we have storms. I can do that. But the house is 12 years old and the label that shows what all those spots around the knobby thing are...they've worn off...soi can't even research what they are.

I do understand basic chemistry, having had a lot of Science classes in college. The letters pH don't scare me.

When I moved in, there was dirt and algae and if you so much as stuck anything in the water, it was very icky.

Ive been paying people to come out here every week. It's like $140/mo. I am not broke, but I am not rich, either. I don't want to pay all that. But I can. If I must.

Should I even try to do this myself, considering I don't know anything? And I'm all alone here, in a new place, with no helpers.

Did anyone else start off knowing nothing and learn to do it? If so, how?

[chem geek]

You can start by reading Pool School. You'll want to see what kind of filter you have -- sand, DE, cartridge -- since they are managed differently. The pool service you are using has probably figured some things out, but I'm not sure they will tell you if it means you'll be dropping their service.