Need Advice: Out Of The Country Every 3 Months for 3 Months At A Time...

[RAILhead]

Hey all

I feel I'm at the mercy of our local pool company due to the schedule my wife and I keep. We have a non-profit, and we live in Cambodia for 3 months, twice a year (Jan-March and July-October). While we're gone, I have our local pool company take care of things, but they, of course, don't use the BBB method — so I end up with all kinds of who knows what in my pool. But what can I do? Here are some pool details:

- Small, 7000 gallon pool
- Fully enclosed
- Exposed to sun the majority of the day (9:30am to 4:30pm)
- We live in South Texas (about 50 miles South of Houston)
- Pool has autofill, so it maintains level at all times (we turn off our house main while we're gone)

The last thing I want is to return to a pool with algae or rust, but I don't know of any way to maintain it for 3 months without someone coming and checking things. Right now, the tests are showing the CYA is so high, it can't even be read! Now I need to drain and refill. Ugh. I wish I could just "do something" before we left, and have it work while we're gone, then I wouldn't even have to have the guys come out.

Any thoughts? Tips? Ideas?

 

[Melt In The Sun]

How about a salt system? They should be able to check FC, maintain pH, etc., without adding any CYA to your pool.

 

[RAILhead]

Well, I was looking for a less drastic way than converting to salt. Might not be another option, though.

 

[delirium330]

How about asking the pool service to service your pool the way you would prefer it be serviced? There are so many pool service companies, you'd think one or more would be happy to use your method for the right price.

Actually now that I think about it, what about finding a kid on the street that you can show the ropes and have him brush weekly and add liquid chlorine? Really isn't that complicated to practice BBB and you could pay he/she accordingly. Even consider a babysitter or dog walker type that enjoys doing odd jobs/routines for money.