The family and I are going out of town for a week. And to top it all off....it is expected to rain all week next week :x Is there anything I can do to keep from coming home to a swamp :?
Vacation and the BBB
- Thread starter Shawdaddy1972
- Start date
Do you have a dependable friend or neighbor who could come by and add bleach daily? Just have them add the average amount you usually put in.
I'm no expert but I'm guessing trichlor pucks won't hurt anything for just a few days.
.... and your TA is not too low for trichlor.
You should be able to calculate how many tablets you will need to equal the typical amount of bleach, then use the Pool Calculator to see what that volume of trichlor adds in CYA levels.
In a week you will probably add 20 ppm, more or less. If you started out low that will be OK. If you are already high, well, it's a choice based on the numbers you expect. If it is raining, at least you can expect some overflow and loss of CYA that way.
You should be able to calculate how many tablets you will need to equal the typical amount of bleach, then use the Pool Calculator to see what that volume of trichlor adds in CYA levels.
In a week you will probably add 20 ppm, more or less. If you started out low that will be OK. If you are already high, well, it's a choice based on the numbers you expect. If it is raining, at least you can expect some overflow and loss of CYA that way.
I left the country for a week and a half. I raised the water level, you won't need that if it rains where you live. Then I lowered pH to 7.2. Ran FC up to shock, put some trichlor pucks in a floater, and put a ratty solar cover on.
Everything was fine when I got home, aside from a lot of blue plastic crumbles from the cover disintegrating.
Everything was fine when I got home, aside from a lot of blue plastic crumbles from the cover disintegrating.
I think I will just have my neighbor come over and add a gal of bleach each day. Should I drop my pH to 7.2 also with all the rain coming....or supposed to be coming?
couldn't you just shock it? average burn of 2-3 ppm per day, gonna be gone for a week, couldn't you just shock it to 21ppm?
That wouldn't work because the chlorine loss is proportional to the FC level (all else, such as CYA, equal). It would be fine if one covered the pool with a mostly opaque cover to cut down chlorine loss, but with the sun one will lose significant FC, especially at shock level since more of the chlorine is unbound to CYA so breaks down faster.
ride525
Gold Supporter
A week could add 20 ppm, more or less? Wow, at that rate, a month of trichlor would add just over 80ppm, just three months would add about 250ppm? Is that about right?
It's probably more realistic to assume the daily chlorine usage at 2 ppm, though this depends a lot on actual conditions and CYA level. So one week would be 14 ppm FC and 8.5 ppm CYA. So generally not a problem. For one-week trips, pucks are great to use. It's when one is gone for longer periods of time where it's more of an issue, also because the pucks generally won't last for more than a week.
chem geek said:
Thanks for catching that, I was sloppy saying 20 ppm CYA in a week. 10 is what I actually see.
For a two week trip I do have someone come to refill the auto cholorinator with pucks, and to check the water level. Still need to clean the skimmers & Polaris every other day due to lots of trees.
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