Leave pool open or closed for the summer in Arizona?

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BigT05

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Jan 22, 2016
11
Arizona
Hi,
i just installed a fibreglass pool at my home in Arizona where I am a winter resident. I'm looking for any input on how I should leave the pool when I go home for the summer. My plan was to cover the pool with a winter cover and only run the pump for an hour or two a day. Will this work or will it get mouldy, or slimy, etc under the cover. This way I won't loose a lot of water to evaporation, save electricity not having to run the pump as much and keep all the blowing sand out of the pool from the summer storms. It also should elevate having to have a pool guy to come by weekly to check chemicals etc. I do have someone checking on my house and yard when I'm gone but they don't know much about pools. I also have a friend across the street that has a pool that will come over and check on things for me. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sorry to say it will end up being a slimy algae pool when you get back. People get away with closing pools in the winter because algae growth is retarded in cold water. Nice warm water in AZ is going to be a perfect breeding ground fro algae.
 
tim5055 said:
Sorry to say it will end up being a slimy algae pool when you get back. People get away with closing pools in the winter because algae growth is retarded in cold water. Nice warm water in AZ is going to be a perfect breeding ground fro algae.
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Do you think that will happen even if I leave the pump running for longer periods of time to keep the pool sanitized?
 
Who cares if it gets slimy or pH goes out of whack....cant he just fix all that in the spring? It would be cheaper to fix a slimy pool than run everything for 5 months. Am I wrong? I'm just a newbie

39k gallon, Pebble Tec, waterfall spa, Pentair FNS60, Del Ozone, K-2006, built 2013, The Woodlands, Texas
 
sijaz said:
Who cares if it gets slimy or pH goes out of whack....cant he just fix all that in the spring? It would be cheaper to fix a slimy pool than run everything for 5 months. Am I wrong? I'm just a newbie

39k gallon, Pebble Tec, waterfall spa, Pentair FNS60, Del Ozone, K-2006, built 2013, The Woodlands, Texas
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He is not talking about leaving it for the winter, he is a winter resident so it will be alone all summer.

An out of balance pool in warm water all summer can cause damage to the pool itself.

Plus, following our methods most people who close their pools open to a clean pool, not a swamp. We want to avoid that if at all possible.
 
BigT05 said:
My pool has a in line chlorination and uv/ozonator so if the pump is running it is getting sanitized. As far as ph I can get my friend to check that once a month or so.
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We generally find that both UV and ozonators do not add anything to outdoor pools. You get plenty of free UV from the sun in AZ.

What is "in line chlorination"? is the is a salt system, a liquid chlorine feeder or a tab feeder?
 
Sorry to say but the UV system is not going to help much at all. I would not recommend closing a pool in AZ all summer. It should be checked weekly or you could end up with a costly disaster. Is you in line chlorinator a SWG? If so you'll have to monitor salt levels due to evaporation. You will also need to monitor pH, if pH goes out of whack for months , it could damage the pool. I would hire a pool company to maintain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
azjoshers79 said:
Sorry to say but the UV system is not going to help much at all. I would not recommend closing a pool in AZ all summer. It should be checked weekly or you could end up with a costly disaster. Is you in line chlorinator a SWG? If so you'll have to monitor salt levels due to evaporation. You will also need to monitor pH, if pH goes out of whack for months , it could damage the pool. I would hire a pool company to maintain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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You can tell I don't spend much time in AZ, I totally forgot about evaporation. My last trip there was Phoenix at the beginning of August and I was afraid I was going to sink into the stree it was so soft.
 

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Well, that is a problem. Pool installers love to use tab feeders but they never tell folks the bad part of them. Almost half of that tablet is stabilizer. Using a tablet feeder as the prime source of chlorine leads to over stabilization in a short time. We get most of our members here because they find that the pool stores have sold them on tabs and now they can't keep their pool clear of algae because of the level of stabilizer in the water. Chlorine goes away by oxidising the bad stuff in the water and degraded by the UV of the sun. The stabilizer just continually builds up until you have to drain water to get rid of it.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
 
tim5055 said:
Well, that is a problem. Pool installers love to use tab feeders but they never tell folks the bad part of them. Almost half of that tablet is stabilizer. Using a tablet feeder as the prime source of chlorine leads to over stabilization in a short time. We get most of our members here because they find that the pool stores have sold them on tabs and now they can't keep their pool clear of algae because of the level of stabilizer in the water. Chlorine goes away by oxidising the bad stuff in the water and degraded by the UV of the sun. The stabilizer just continually builds up until you have to drain water to get rid of it.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
Click to expand...

Thanks. I will do that.
 
You might be able to cover the pool, have someone check water/test about 2 times a month if you Install a Salt Water Generator. You would need to run your pump "some" amount of time (determined by testing)...

You would still need someone to check your levels but it could be done.. You could have your level higher than normal because no one will be using the pool... Maybe run you chlorine level at 7 or above depending on your CYA level... This would require you to run you pump x amount of hours on a daily basis but if you have a 2 speed pump would not cost so much...
 
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