My pool is the same size as yours,
Here's what I do for my Saturday in the Spring opening routine:
I first clean out the big leaves and sticks and what not that gets in the pool over the winter by setting up a siphon directly over the wall of the pool using the vac head and vac hose.
Then I hook up filter and pump, remove winterization hardware from pool, and top off pool water to appropriate level.
Start pump and charge with initial charge of DE. (I leave the pump running 24/7 until my water is clear and chemistry is stable.)
Then I:
1) Test for Total Alkalinity. I adjust total alkalinity upwards using baking soda. (i usually need 8-12 pounds, I get mine at BJs) My TA ALWAYS needs to go up due to my fill water. I test again after 2 hours. Once TA is in the right range . . .
2) I adjust pH using Borax. Again, my pH always needs a little boost due to acid rain and my fill water. Again, I test after 2 hours. Once my pH is in line, I then
3) Wait until evening to shock (my pool is the same size as yours). I add 5 of the small jugs of 6% Wal-mart bleach and let the pool sit over night, the next morning, I add enough bleach to bring my FC back up to 10, and continue to check it every several hours throughout the day. Usually I have to backwash the filter somewhere in there too! Once the chlorine holds steady overnight, I know I have eliminated all of the organics in the water. I then go to 8 hours of filtration a day.
4) At this point, I would add CYA (if I used it). I choose to use pucks for vacations and such and therefore get my CYA from them. I start with pucks in the spring and once CYA gets around 15 or so, I back off and switch to straight bleach. That way, I can still use pucks while on vacation and still not get a CYA above 30 or so all summer. My CYA always starts at 0 in the spring.
So I adjust TA, pH, then Cl in that order. I adjust TA first because once I get it right, it stays right. If you adjust pH first then go to TA, you will mess up your pH and have to adjust it again. Also getting TA in range helps to keep pH where it needs to be and keeps it from bouncing all over.
Once I get everything in range, I test daily (or every other if I'm lazy) for pH and FC. I usually need about half of one of those jugs of bleach every night depending on how much my kids are in the pool. Once a week or so, I do a full blown test, but it is usually pretty uneventful.
When I go on vacation, I test pH and boost it to 7.8 or a little higher. Then I put 3-4 pucks in the skimmer basket and put the solar cover on. The pucks then bring the pH back down to within normal range while I'm gone. When I get home, I test everything and adjust as needed. Usually I just boost CL to about 8 and pick up where I left off.
...FYI, your pool holds around 13,500 gallons...not 15,000...You really need a test kit with a large pool. PaulR started this thread for very small pools, so if you could start a new thread we can help you out (We don;t like to threadjack). My advice...read pool school three time over, get a good test kit as recommended there and get accustomed to using poolcalculator.com.
