Absentee pool owner

[AZAA]

I will be leaving my pool in the care of a friend for 5 months over the summer. He is experienced in the testing of Cl & pH. I use strictly liquid chlorine and have a stock of it and muriatic acid available to him. He will be able to check the pool once a week. The pool will be virtually unused during the summer. Here in Arizona I have hardly any leaves or other organic matter blowing into the pool.
Question: do you think a good dose of liquid chlorine once a week will be sufficient or should I invest in a bucket of those darn chlorine pucks? My CYA is at the lower end of acceptable so I can probably absorb the added stabilizer without much worry. Calcium and alkalinity are pretty much out of my control here with the hard water we have so those levels will be ignored until the fall. So what's the verdict, pucks or no pucks?

 

[mknauss]

You will have to use trichlor. Basic pool service method, lots of pucks with weekly 'shock' of liquid chlorine. Deal with what you have when you return.

 

[AZAA]

So he loads up the floater with trichlor every week and dumps (how much?) liquid chlorine in as well?

 

[kul]

Do you have a cover for your pool to help with the chlorine loss? Would your friend maybe be willing to come twice a week like on a Tuesday and Friday? That may help you avoid pucks to a certain extent.

If the above are not options, I agree with @mknauss - deal with it when you return.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You can’t cover a pool in AZ over the summer. It will turn into a hot bathtub and you’ll kick off an algae bloom the second the FC drops low enough. Leave it open, the intense UV will help. Just do as Marty says - pucks in floater and probably 10ppm shock once a week.

 

[kul]

You can’t cover a pool in AZ over the summer.

Thanks for the correction!

 

[AZAA]

You can’t cover a pool in AZ over the summer. It will turn into a hot bathtub and you’ll kick off an algae bloom the second the FC drops low enough. Leave it open, the intense UV will help. Just do as Marty says - pucks in floater and probably 10ppm shock once a week.

Yeah, and the wind would take it off the first week anyway!

 

[AZAA]

So is it because a heavy dose of liquid chlorine won't last a week that I need to augment with trichlor?

 

[kul]

That’s correct. The chlorine will burn off/be consumed.

 

[HermanTX]

My concern would be your stored LC will degrade over 5 mos. so if you are not having fresh LC then your friend will need to add more LC just to compensate for the lower % of effective Chlorine.
Your sun and heat in AZ is definitely different from us in Houston. I can get by for 7-10 days with a heavy dose of LC and then some pucks but not sure that will be effective for your scenario and the concern of the LC degrading while be stored.

 

[AZAA]

You will have to use trichlor. Basic pool service method, lots of pucks with weekly 'shock' of liquid chlorine. Deal with what you have when you return.

Marty, can you guestimate how much liquid chlorine would constitute 10ppm in 12K gal pool as Matt suggests? I'm unclear how to compare ppm to the reading from the drop-test kit. If I dumped in say 64oz of 10% chlorine (along with fresh trichlor) would that constitute enough "shock" for the week?

 

[mknauss]

Use PoolMath. Effects of adding chemicals.
One gallon of 10% will add 8.3 ppm FC to your 12K pool. So have them add a gallon and a half. Or close to that.

 

[AZAA]

Once again you've come thru for me. Thanks. I'll try not to wear out my welcome.