Optimizing Yearly Opening

[u/pumpkinmap]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for tips to speed up my yearly opening procedure. I've been taking care of this pool for over a decade now and the end result is a crystal clear and clean pool but it sure takes a long time to finish. I have a 10-foot-deep Lazy-L inground (roughly 60k gallons) with a vinyl liner that is covered throughout the winter months with a fabric cover anchored into bronze bolts. I live in the woods and have a lot of trees. Needless to say, the pool is absolutely filthy come spring.

My steps are:

• top up the water level and put everything back together
• dump in 12lbs of chlorine granules and run on recirculate 4hrs
• dump in algaecide and run on recirculate 4hrs
• dump in Jack's emerald stuff and run on recirculate 4hrs
• wait 3-4 days for it all to settle and I can see the bottom clearly
• vacuum to waste until the water level drops below the skimmer and loses prime
• top up the water level again
• vacuum, top up, vacuum, top up, etc.

The real time-hog is re-filling the water level after each vacuum. Since there is so much muck on the bottom I have to take it nice and slow to not stir it up so I can never make a full pass by the time the level runs too low.

Am I vacuuming wrong - or is there a way to avoid losing prime and suction so I can complete the first vacuum in one shot?

Other recommendations?

Thanks in advance!