How To Keep Algae Away While On A 1.5 Week Vacation in July

[stkidsdoc]

Thanks for the explanation. I’ll be using Trichlor tablets as seen on the pic below. I will put about 5 into the chlorinator, but I was also thinking of also putting some trichlor tabs in a floater as well. Or should I just pick one method?
View attachment 101905

I’ll have to invest in this. It seems like a cheaper option for me for sure. Thanks for sharing.

Another option, although will cost a bit: I have a 23,000 gal pool, and we bought a SWG from amazon that is not in-line, but hangs on the side of the pool. It works to maintain my FC in range all by itself! Solaxx. $288 Total. I used the first one for 4 years, then replaced it. Very very happy with my decision. Also wanting to go in line, but the cost over dealing with a power cord to the side of the pool just seems to be excessive for the cost differential. Obviously you’d need to invest in salt, but that’s cheap at Walmart. Good luck!

So I'll be on vacation for 1.5 weeks in July (during the hot summer days). I don't have friends and family close by to help watch my Oasis, so it looks like I'm going to have to figure out what to do in order to keep algae at bay. My plan is to SLAM my pool.

However, now that I think of it, I lose about 4ppm of FC per day during the summer. Should I bring my FC to 45 or 50 before I leave? In addition to that, should I put some chorine tabs in the chlorinator too? This is what I did last time I went on vacation, but it was only for 3.5 days.

Any suggestions?

to clarify about the solaxx brand below, it’s the solaxx “retro” with looks like a guitar hanging off the poolside. As mentioned I use it on my 23,000 gal in NH, (so probably about the same climate as Michigan), although it says only up to 20,000.

 

[Mendy48]

So it's been 3 days and my chlorinator works well. I added 12oz of 1" pucks to my chlorinator and let it run at the maximum dial of 8. If you look at my PoolMath log, my FC (which started at a 10.5 on Tuesday), went down to only 8.5 by Thursday. My pool gets full sun. The 1" pucks are completely dissolved by the way.

Before I started testing my chlorinator, my CYA was at a 50. However, now it's at 55. So 12 oz of 1" pucks increased my CYA by 5 points. Is this possible? Nevertheless, I'll be using 3" pucks on my vacation as advised.

With my CYA at 55 (basically 60), should I drain my pool now or should I just leave it alone and drain it after I come back from my vacation?

So this is what I plan on doing....

• Brush, Vacuum & Clean Pool
• Add four 3" pucks to my chlorinator
• Set the chlorinator dial to maximum (I'm thinking that I should set my chlorinator dial to maybe 5 instead since it took only 3 days to dissolve 12oz of 1" pucks)
• Make sure my pH is set at 7.5 (adding pucks to my pool will decrease my pH and I don't want it to fall below 7.2. Or should I not worry about that until I return from vacation)
• SLAM my pool (based on my CYA)
• Cover the pool
• Set timer on the pump

Looking forward to your suggestions.

 

[justinc]

I think I would drain before going away for awhile... That way when you return the pool is one less thing you have to worry about! And yes, the pucks are very acidic so run the pH a little higher because they are going to drive it down. Make sure your TA is OK too. Maybe even bump it by 10ppm.

 

[mknauss]

Your CYA is within the range of error of the test. 12 oz of trichlor added 3 ppm CYA. The error of the test is +/-10 ppm.

 

[Mendy48]

Your CYA is within the range of error of the test. 12 oz of trichlor added 3 ppm CYA. The error of the test is +/-10 ppm.

Could you elaborate for me? Not sure I understand. ?should I be worried about how much CYA 12oz of trichlor added to my pool?

 

[Zeerob]

Hi, I am really surprised that you loose 4 ppm FC per day with a high CYA of 50!
How high is your FC normally, and how much chlorine do you normally use per day?

 

[Mendy48]

Hi, I am really surprised that you loose 4 ppm FC per day with a high CYA of 50!
How high is your FC normally, and how much chlorine do you normally use per day?

I get full sun and I do lose about 3-4ppm per day at a CYA of 50. I guess that’s how my pool operates. I normally use about 66oz per day during the very very full sun hot summers. I leave my FC at 10. It’s a preference of mine.

 

[Zeerob]

Wow, that is a lot of chlorine. What I have done in the past was drill a small hole in a chlorine can (in the cap), and put it on its side in the pool. The chlorine will flow out slowly. But you would have to experiment with the size of the hole, and in the beginning, it will flow faster than later. Probably not practical for the amount that you use.
Have you considered leaving the cover off, so that the water will not get so warm and cool down at night. At a lower temperature, algae may develop more slowly. I will be going away for 3 weeks and we also have a lot of sun. I keep the cover off because otherwise the water temperature would be above the max temp for the bubble cover.