Advice on going away for the summer

[poolnj]

As rookie BBB'ers, we have aced last season living by the letter of the BBB law, but we will be going away for the summer, and have family using our pool on weekends only. A neighbor has agreed to do whatever light maintenance is necessary, including testing with the Taylor a few times a week, but he is not willing to go through the hassle of hauling liquid bleach. We were wondering what the experts would recommend in our case.

1) I have read that cal-hypo's main chemical downside is increased CH, but when I test my CH it is 130 (13 drops at 25ml testing). Would it be OK to have our neighbor use cal-hypo powder for one summer?

2) Even if the answer to 1 is yes, it is still too much to ask our neighbor to constantly maintain the chlorine with cal-hypo. While I imagine a tab-based chlorinator is a dirty word around here, can we get an exemption to ensure that the pool stays clean? If yes, are there any specific tabs that we can use. (Currently, our CYA is ~15-20).

3) Ideally, we are thinking of the combination of a chlorinator for ongoing fc injection and our neighbor adding cal-hypo if a slam is needed. If there are better solutions under the circumstance, they would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Richard320]

I think you have figured out the solution. Which is essentially what a pool service would do. Keep a floater full of trichlor pucks in the pool and when he tests, boost the FC with Cal hypo. You'll probably need to keep some Borax and Baking Soda or Soda Ash in the shed to boost things when the pucks lower pH and TA too much. And then figure on a partial drain when you get back. Lots of people manage to squeak through the season that way. You never hear about it because they only come here when it stops working!

 

[poolnj]

Thanks Richard, and thanks for always being so quick on the draw on answering forum questions in general! I will be popping back home from time to time so I will certainly keep my BB's at hand. When I visit the pool, I will even give it a special treat of fresh clorox bleach I will also have my neighbor send me the results and symptoms as they arise for you experts to advise.