Help! I've neglected the pool.

[anjellenee]

Help! I have an above ground pool which I have completely neglected to maintain on any level in the past few weeks. What's worse is I discovered my pump was off. I have been so consumed at work that I basically forgot the pool existed. Well what's resulted is a LOT of algae, a dead squirrel in there (he's out now, but who knows what lurks beneath). It's about time to winterize and this is our first year in this house.
I'm wondering:
Should I attempt to clean the pool myself and do all the winterizing. I've revived it from algae before but it was time consuming and cost me a lot in chemicals and I dont think it was ever this bad. Any tips on steps I should take in cleaning?
Call someone and have them clean and winterize the pool for me. (Would this be expensive, like do they charge according to dirtiness of the pool?)
Should I just drain the whole damn thing and convert it into a pond like I've been thinking

[Eric]

This is the sort of situation where your personal philosophy makes a big difference. You could just close the pool as is and deal with the problems next spring. However, if the pH is low, you could end up with wrinkles in the liner.

If it were me, I would get rid of the algae, adjust the pH so it's between 7.4 and 7.6, and adjust the alkalinity so it's between 120 to 140 before closing the pool. With a vinyl liner there's little danger in letting the other parameters be out of the ideal range for the winter. Killing the algae and insuring the pH and alkalinity are correct will make opening the spring easier and protect the liner.

I'm sure others will post their opinions shortly.

[Litoq]

Wow...this sounds just like my situation minus the dead squirrel and pump. Pool was clear all summer long but once the cool temps hit, I neglected the pool completely. Luckily I kept the solar blanket on and pump running to keep from getting too bad but didnt put any chlorine (bleach) or maintain balance so now I have algae too.

My opinion is to clean the *bleep* out of it now while the temps are still ok, add chemicals and close it. I wouldn't want to open the pool next year and worry about the smell and all the cleaning when all we wanna do is jump in. If I saw my pool in that condition when I opened, I may never get to cleaning it.

Don't know if your area is like mine but nobody here services AG pools anymore so we're on our own. You may want to check your area as well if you have never had your pool serviced professionally.

I also wouldn't drain the whole thing especially because the water is keeping the liner stretched and in place. If you drain while the temps are cooler, the liner might try to go back to its original unstretched form and pull down your walls.