10 Day Vacation

[Jurate1]

Hello all, we will be going on a 10 day vacation mid July. I have been adding all chemicals as recommended daily but I have no one to do this while we are gone. Currently I am adding Muriatic acid 1 cup several times a week and Chlorine about 4 cups daily to maintain CL at about 5. My CYA levels are now low at 37.. , Ca at 250 . I believe the pucks put out 2.7 chlorine but I don't understand if this is daily or for the whole week? I do have a neighbor who could maybe add new tabs to dispenser once a week if needed but I really hate to impose on him if not necessary....

Questions:

What should I do before we leave?
To maintain I was going to put the chlorine 3:1 tabs back in the pool for the time we are gone. But I don't know how many to put in the dispenser to last 10 days and will this maintain chlorine levels for 10 days?
Not sure what to do about the PH.... Should I bring down PH to bare minimum 7.2 before I leave?
Thanks for any guidance...

 

[AK-]

My contingency plan for such situations is to bring my FC very close to SLAM level, put on my solar cover, put Trichlor tablets on a floater (tricholor dissolves over time, it takes about 5-7 days for a tablet to dissolve on floater). I’d ask a friend to check my floater and may add a little more Trichlor to it. Of course when back it is a new level of CYA.

Trichlor is acidic, so it will help to keep your pH low. Without use you won’t get any aeration to raise pH either.

 

[Jurate1]

Thank you.. I do not have a cover. Temps here in AZ in triple digits. So only 1 - 3 inch Puck per week should be sufficient? or should I put 2 in the floater? My chlorine dropped from 6 to 2 in one day even adding 1 quart chlorine daily. I test each morning. If each tab has 1.7 CYA if I use 4 tabs (2 each week) for the 10 day we are gone that would only raise CYA by 7 points if I am doing math correctly...probably less since we are not gone for a full 2 weeks. Then take the tabs out when we return.

 

[mknauss]

In 10 days you will not be able to maintain the pool at target FC with pucks in a floater. So when you get home, you deal with what you will have. Good chance it will not be all that bad as our climate does not support alot of airborne organics and thus a pool going green takes time.

Most floating dispensers hold 5 8 oz pucks. Fill it. Then tie the floater so it stays near a return. Just be sure it cannot get stuck over a step or ledge that is close to the surface.
Can you schedule your pump? Run it at least 6-8 hours per day.

Very important, if the person you speak of can come clean out your skimmers, you will want that. A monsoon comes through and fills the pool with debris the skimmers will plug.

 

[Jurate1]

Thanks MK, my neighbor is elderly. I'm sure he would but I hate to impose on him. I may just see if I can get a pool company to come out at least once during our time away.. Yes pump is running 8 hours. I'm sure it will be fine. It's just our first time owning a pool and going on vacation..

 

[markayash]

Don’t let the worry distract from vacation. Do what you can and worse case you will have to do a slam when you get back.
Also be careful asking elderly to empty skimmers if you’re not comfortable, don’t want them doing something wrong or worse fall in,
Before my SWG I broght fc up high and added a floater and it was usually just a little dull looking when I got back.

 

[mknauss]

If you can’t have someone to clear the skimmer, can you switch to suction from the main drain? Monsoon season is a threat to plugging your skimmer suction.