I've gotten sick and tired of dealing with my solar cover. It is on it's 4th season. During the 3rd season it ripped into two sections and now it rips whenever I tug on it. Because it is in sections, one section tends to float up over the other, blow to the side (return jet aerating and pushing it across the pool), and never keep my entire pool covered (I'd say it would typically only keep about 1/2 to 1/3 of my pool covered.)
So now I'm experimenting with a topless pool (i.e. no cover). I'm in the "mountains" of western PA where we get a very short swimming season and cool temps often. So far my water is warming up and remaining at a pretty good swimmable temperature (around 76 to 78 degrees often). I am combating a lot of leaves / debris / bugs getting in my water and the need to vacuum more, but I'll accept that in trade for not having the hassle and expense of a new solar cover.
My main issue is that I am losing quite a bit of Chlorine now. I seem to average 3 to 4ppm loss in a 24hr period. My target CYA level was 40 when I opened the pool in early June, but I haven't retested it (I need to). My pool also gets full sun from approximately 10AM to sundown. Should I target a higher CYA level in order to lessen the Chlorine loss? How high? One issue is that if I raise my CYA level and therefore raise my min & max chlorine levels I will have a hard time testing my chlorine with my simple drop test kit which only reads up to 5ppm.
Anyone else go topless on their pools for extended periods of time? Your experience?
Thanks,
Garry
So now I'm experimenting with a topless pool (i.e. no cover). I'm in the "mountains" of western PA where we get a very short swimming season and cool temps often. So far my water is warming up and remaining at a pretty good swimmable temperature (around 76 to 78 degrees often). I am combating a lot of leaves / debris / bugs getting in my water and the need to vacuum more, but I'll accept that in trade for not having the hassle and expense of a new solar cover.
My main issue is that I am losing quite a bit of Chlorine now. I seem to average 3 to 4ppm loss in a 24hr period. My target CYA level was 40 when I opened the pool in early June, but I haven't retested it (I need to). My pool also gets full sun from approximately 10AM to sundown. Should I target a higher CYA level in order to lessen the Chlorine loss? How high? One issue is that if I raise my CYA level and therefore raise my min & max chlorine levels I will have a hard time testing my chlorine with my simple drop test kit which only reads up to 5ppm.
Anyone else go topless on their pools for extended periods of time? Your experience?
Thanks,
Garry