Yes, I'm that much of a newbie why doesn't all my new equipment come with directions?! My skimmer has an extra lid with a spout, so my assumption is that I hook the hose up to that guy. I have read through various posts that the hose needs filled with water. Assuming I have these points correct and there is nothing more to the assembly or anything, the part I am stuck on is on which setting do I put the valve on my sand filter? It is the multi-valve variety. I assume I can put it on the "Bypass to Waste" setting, but that means all my precious new water i just paid $350 for gets dumped in the yard, right? Besides, I am not sure I have everything I need in order to attach the backwash hose. If it makes a difference, what I need to vacuum is the sand the installers got on the filter. There also may be leaves down there too. Also, i have an automatic cleaner I would like to try using first before manually doing it, if that changes things. We can't get in it yet, and I have no deck yet. I'm 5 ft tall with 54" walls, so the manual beast seems impossible right now. My pump only has one speed, so there is no question there. Thanks, TFP!