How to care for pool while on vacation

[Janelle]

Hi there,
With only 2 months of pool experience, I need some advice. I'll being going out of town for no more than a long weekend. I don't have a timer for my pump and am trying to decide what to do. I figure my two options are to either leave the pump on 24/7 or leave off for 3 days and just make sure to get my FC levels extra high before turning off pump. I'd appreciate comments from those of you who have done both.
Thanks!

 

[zea3]

You can do it either way. If you do not have to empty the skimmer basket very often you can bring the pool to shock level and let the pump run 24/7 while you are gone. If emptying the skimmer would be a problem then bring the pool to shock level, run the pump about 30 minutes to mix well, then turn off the pump and test the water when you get back. If you can cover the pool while the pump is off the chlorine will last a little longer.

 

[Janelle]

Thanks for your reply. I'm leaning towards leaving the pump on 24/7, but I might change my mind when I get my first utility bill reflecting shocking pool for 10 days with pump running 24/7.