What to do when can't run pump for five weeks?

[red7272]

I have a unique problem. My electricity has been off for a week and will be off for another four week. My electricity transformer burned out and it takes five weeks to replace it in Tanzania :grrrr: I got a generator yesterday but the maximum I can run it is for 4 hours every other day. When I had electricity I was running it for 8 hours a day. The pool has a dark blue plastic bubble cover -- not sure how much UV it blocks.

What is going to happen to my pool if I do not run the pump as much as I should? Does the filter only affect dirt or does it also decrease algae growth? I am happy to hibernate the pool for the next four weeks if it keeps things from growing in the pool and can minimize generator usage. All this put another way, can I not run the pool pump for five weeks and not have algae growth or other problems? If possible, is there anything special I should do with the chemicals?

My pool is salt water but the chlorinator has been broken for a few months. So it has salt in it buy no chlorinator.

Thank you for your help.
Best,
Patrick

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd run the pump about an hour a day and chlorinate the pool during that time. The filter is only for removing dirt. By running it less than normal you may collect a little dirt but as long as you keep it chlorinated, you should be fine.

 

[jblizzle]

I agree with Bama. Run at least an hour and maintain adequate chlorine every day (preferable with bleach) and you should hold off the algae. The cover will also certainly help.

 

[red7272]

Thank you Jason and Dave. I appreciate the quick feedback.

Best,
Patrick

 

[JVTrain]

You can even maintain without a pump for quite some time if you chlorinate and then brush the whole pool manually. Just be prepared for sore arms.

 

[JamesW]

A solar powered pump might be a good choice if you can get one.

 

[susa]

Small Honda Inverters are great backup for this situation as they are very economical to run. We use as whole house backups Honda Eu6500 and Em7000 generators and ran easily run entire house as all pumps are variable speed including private well, pool and heatpumps for cooling.

A small 1000w Honda would easily allow you to submerge a small drain/sump pump into the pool and run recirculation 24 hours without emptying the fuel tank, runtime variances would permit even more economic use.