Vacation with a pool that I cannot balance?

[Awoodwaring]

I cannot get my pool balanced and we are going to be gone for a week. Pool is clear, CC won't go below one. Had my daughter scrub around the lights and steps last night (CC still at 1...looks higher today than yesterday).

I have been at this for over a week now. It seemed like we were close, then hubby cleaned the filter...wham...using lots of chlorine again. Turned the solar back one...wham...lots of chlorine usage again and, it looks like the CC went up after that. Getting really frustrated.

Any suggestions for us before we leave?

 

[Richard320]

Try pulling the light and cleaning behind it. And if those steps are wedding cakes steps, it's probably all slimy behind them. If you've been doing the Shock Level And Maintain Process to eliminate the CC, you need to run the water through the solar to clean any residual out of that plumbing as well. Cover? It could be harboring algae. The stuff reproduces fast, you need to kill it everywhere.

It would help us a whole lot if you would fill out your signature. A lot less guessing that way.

 

[Awoodwaring]

I updated sig...

If the cover has been on the majority of the time, do I need to pull it off and bleach it?

 

[Richard320]

I updated sig...

If the cover has been on the majority of the time, do I need to pull it off and bleach it?

If it's one of those floating bubble-wrap covers, submerge it every so often so every inch is exposed to the high-chlorine water. Or flip it over, add your bleach to the surface and move the bleach around and let it drain off into the pool by using the spray nozzle on the garden hose. That'll kill anything lingering on the bubbles.

If it's some other type, not a clue. Never dealt with them.

 

[Awoodwaring]

Ok...lights and waterfall were gunky....hubby cleaned...everything is on and running. I'll test again after the kids swim.

 

[Awoodwaring]

Here is my cover...this may be more difficult to clean.

 

[Awoodwaring]

30% loss of chlorine over 9 hours (cya of 55) and a spike of CC to 2. Yikes! I think we found the issues! The waterfall and lights were really bad. So, I am now adding chlorine and will test on an hourly basis....unfortunately, we are still going on vacation.

How do I figure outa how much chlorine should I have our house sitter add....I don't even have a baseline. . We were steady until we would add in some new thing (i.e., cleaning the filter, turning on the solar, turning back on the waterfall, etc...).

Also, I don't know if I feel comfortable leaving *everything* on and running while we are gone. We noticed a solar leak this morning...no biggie, but we were able to fix it pretty quickly. I don't expect our house sitter to catch these things.

 

[Casey]

You SLAM according to your CYA level.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Any chance you have a close enough friend or someone in the neighborhood is a pool owner you know you could ask the favor of "pool sitting" while you are gone ??

Are you testing the water yourself or pool store ??

Even though the water looks good are you continuing to sweep the pool ?? Keeps things stirred up and anything that shouldn't be there from getting a grip and easier for the filter to suck up.

 

[Awoodwaring]

You SLAM according to your CYA level.

That would require daily testing (no go for the person here while we are out). They can add chlorine, that is all.

- - - Updated - - -

Any chance you have a close enough friend or someone in the neighborhood is a pool owner you know you could ask the favor of "pool sitting" while you are gone ??

Are you testing the water yourself or pool store ??

Even though the water looks good are you continuing to sweep the pool ?? Keeps things stirred up and anything that shouldn't be there from getting a grip and easier for the filter to suck up.

Sweeping everyday (usually multiple times)

Taylor kit

Testing myself

Tested again...CC is 2, FC is 24 (3 hrs later, and I was shooting for 22... Oops)

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Tested again...CC is 2, FC is 24 (3 hrs later, and I was shooting for 22... Oops)

Well it's better to be a little over when doing a SLAM than being under

Where are you at with getting the chemistry stabilized ?? Figured out anything on a "pool sitter" ??