Going on vacation for 4 days - what are my options?

[Concord122]

Hey all,

My wife and I are going out of town for four days (Thursday-Sunday). What are my best options to keeping the FC up while we are gone?

For reference, we just did a water exchange two weeks ago so our CYA is around 35-40. Water is currently clear. We have had algae issues in the past because we get a lot of sun and vegetation in the pool from nearby trees. Also, it is still high 80s here in Texas so conditions are pretty good to come home to a mess of algae.

The three main options I see are:

1. Put a lot of liquid chlorine in the pool today before we leave and ensure water is at a good level. Pump runs on a timer from 8 AM - 5 PM daily. Understand that it will decrease quite quickly over four days.
2. Use two of tri-chlor tabs in the in-line chlorinator to keep FC up. Negative is that it adds CYA to the pool and I think we are at a good level.
3. Add normal FC today and leave it for the four days, SLAM it when we get home next week.

Any other options or advice on how to proceed would be appreciated!

 

[PoolGate]

4 days? Load up the chlorine before you leave.

 

[Concord122]

4 days? Load up the chlorine before you leave.

Okay, easy enough! Thanks.

 

[Oly]

Options 1 and or 2. I'm guessing the tabs will not fully dissolve and CYA increase will be minor.
Any chance finding someone who can pour some chlorine into your pool Friday afternoon?

 

[Concord122]

Options 1 and or 2. I'm guessing the tabs will not fully dissolve and CYA increase will be minor.
Any chance finding someone who can pour some chlorine into your pool Friday afternoon?

We moved here about a month ago so don't know all of our neighbors yet. I can see if one of them will be around this weekend - depends if his football team is playing.

 

[Gadragonfly]

Before we installed the SWG, whenever we'd leave for a long weekend (usually 3-4 days), I would bump the FC up to SLAM level and leave it. Generally, when I returned my FC would be around 2 ppm and I would bump it up to just below SLAM level and let it work its way down. I haven't had to SLAM my pool....hmmm...ever. We bought our house 3 years ago and the pool needed a new liner and some repairs. I spent the winter months in Pool School and reading posts so that when we added water I could maintain the chemicals myself. I think you'll be safe just bumping the FC up.