Going on a long vacation, But what about the pool?

[icfbuild]

I've followed TFP for a few years and my pool is in excellent condition because of the help and support from this site.
I have a 18' diameter AGP. 8600 gallons or so. My wife and I are planning on a 14-21 day vacation next year.
I do my daily & weekly testing and adding of the liquid chlorine, but what happens when we go on vacation?
I had a thought, and it's crazy, but my wife is in the medical field, I thought about a Chlorine IV for the pool. How can I get IV tubing and tap into a gallon of liquid chlorine? Wife thought I spent too much time in the sun that day, she said it was crazy.
So that's, my question, How do I maintain the chlorine level in the pool while being gone for maybe 20 days? Should I lower my CYA and switch to chlorine pucks for the two weeks. I really hate to ask friends to take care of the pool daily.
Thanks!

 

[Chasarms]

I don't think you are going to raise CYA enough in three weeks using trichlor to be concerned. That said, I don't know that you can load enough in a floater to last three weeks.

Is your pump on a timer?

 

[icfbuild]

I don't think you are going to raise CYA enough in three weeks using trichlor to be concerned. That said, I don't know that you can load enough in a floater to last three weeks.

Is your pump on a timer?

Yes my pump is on a timer, I run it 21 hours per day. It shuts down just after dark to rest for 3 hours.

 

[Mdragger88]

Good news! You’ve got time to save up for a swg! They truly make vacations a breeze. You might wanna still have someone come by & dump your skimmer every few days though.

 

[Chasarms]

You could also consider installing a Stenner pump and a small tank. I have one that automatically adds LC to my pool three times a day.

 

[Jeff J.]

I've followed TFP for a few years and my pool is in excellent condition because of the help and support from this site.
I have a 18' diameter AGP. 8600 gallons or so. My wife and I are planning on a 14-21 day vacation next year.
I do my daily & weekly testing and adding of the liquid chlorine, but what happens when we go on vacation?
I had a thought, and it's crazy, but my wife is in the medical field, I thought about a Chlorine IV for the pool. How can I get IV tubing and tap into a gallon of liquid chlorine? Wife thought I spent too much time in the sun that day, she said it was crazy.
So that's, my question, How do I maintain the chlorine level in the pool while being gone for maybe 20 days? Should I lower my CYA and switch to chlorine pucks for the two weeks. I really hate to ask friends to take care of the pool daily.
Thanks!

Just bring it to shock level, put pucks in a floater, and put a solar cover on to minimize chlorine loss, and you should be fine.

 

[Stenner Tech Support]

Hi,

We are attaching the ECON-T (timer pump) manual. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us here.

 

[derekm]

Just bring it to shock level, put pucks in a floater, and put a solar cover on to minimize chlorine loss, and you should be fine.

Agree. We go away for 2 weeks most summers, and when we come back the only issue is that the chlorine may be a little high. We have a 2-speed pump and run it on low on a timer for 12 hrs a day, fill our Rainbow 320 Chlorinator with pucks, and leave the solar cover on and the heater off. I fill the pool on the high side (3/4 of the way up the skimmer) in case very dry weather causes excessive evaporation as we don't want to run the pump dry, and having the water end up above the skimmer isn't really an issue as the cover keeps the debris off. I find that the pucks will maintain chlorine level as long as the cover is on, and the cover keeps most of the debris out of the skimmer.