First of all, thank you ahead of time. Everyone here at TFP has been excellent help in the past in dealing with the many issues I've faced as a newer inground pool owner. So, rough winter in CT and pool cover ripped leaving a ton of leaves in my pool when I removed it today (almost unavoidable). I have a Gunite inground pool of about 20,000 gallons. The water level is still below the skimmer and returns and my friend and I spent most of the evening using a leaf rake and hose-based leaf vacuum. The water is too murky (brown) to see how many leaves are left and I'm certain we haven't gotten all of them. Should I keep "blind" raking until I get all/most of it out or should I start raising the water level so I can run the filter and add chemicals while I continue raking throughout the week? Thank you.

You should raise the water level get the filter going, add your chems and continue raking.

Illtiger, we are in CT too and the same thing happened to my neighbor - his cover ripped and the bottom of his pool cannot be seen, but it's full of pine needles, leaves, and dead frogs and toads. The hose based leaf vaccuum has been easier to use than the leaf rakes, and now that we think we have most of the gunk out he's not using up chlorine as fast. Definitely get your filter going to keep the water circulated. Good luck to you!

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks for the advice. I've been doing exactly that. Going through chemicals and DE like crazy though.