Covering Pool for 5 months over the summer

[mccurdyp]

I will be leaving our home in Honduras for the summer and will cover the pool while away. Although we normally use a SWG, while we're gone I'm going to turn off the SWG and have our gardener keep it stocked with chlorine pellets in a floater.
I will run the pump for an hour or two each day to circulate everything and turn off the skimmer and just circulate through the 2 main drains. And I have an automatic water filler to keep it filled with enough water as it could be very hot and dry while gone.
Any other suggestions of things I should be doing?
Thanking you in advance!!

 

[mknauss]

Covered and continuous addition of trichlor may very well crash the pH. Can your gardener test pH and TA and add baking soda?

 

[mccurdyp]

Covered and continuous addition of trichlor may very well crash the pH. Can your gardener test pH and TA and add baking soda?

I doubt it - he's pretty simple. But I can see if I can teach him in a day What's downside of low pH on the pool. Will it affect my DiamondBrite?

 

[mknauss]

Low pH is the worst thing for the pool finish and equipment. The pump, the SWCG, etc will all suffer.

Even the pH cannot be tested? Can he do the test and text you a picture?

 

[mccurdyp]

Low pH is the worst thing for the pool finish and equipment. The pump, the SWCG, etc will all suffer.

Even the pH cannot be tested? Can he do the test and text you a picture?

I found some test strips and checked them against my more rigid chemical test and they agreed. So yes, I can have him use the test strip and add acid or Soda Ash as needed.
Thanks so much for your comments!

 

[mknauss]

pH from a strip is typically ok, as long as the FC does not go too high.