Maintenance recommendations while on vacation

[DJowers]

For the first time since getting our pool 2 years ago, we will be away for a week in June. My current CYA level is around 40. Here is my current plan of action:

-Raise FC to at least shock level (maybe even mustard shock level) just before leaving
-Install a brand new filter just before leaving
-Set my pump on a timer to run 8 hrs (or more, if recommended) each day
-Lower pH to around 7.2 (it tends to want to creep up through the season)

I have two questions:

1) Should I leave it covered? I typically cover every night and even when we're having lots of rain, so it usually is covered a substantial amount of time (we have lots of trees nearby, so I mainly cover to prevent debris) and have no problems. However, I've also heard they need to "breathe", so I didn't know if having it covered for a full week would create other issues. I will have someone coming by daily to check on our animals, so I could have them add bleach daily if it is recommended to leave it uncovered, but I'm not going to ask them to remove debris or do anything else. Unfortunately, here all it takes is one quick summer storm with wind to fill our pool with leaves/catkins and other tree trash...I hate to think of that stuff just sitting on the pool bottom for a week.

2) How should I configure the pump run time? I can set the timer to run/not run in 15 min increments so there are lots of possibilities. I'm thinking it would be best to have it run at least 6-8 hrs at a time to get a full turnover, but should I do that once a day? Every couple days? More frequently?

Any other suggestions/concerns about my current plan of action?

Thanks!

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I used to just keep the pump the way it was normally running, I did have a puck feeder for vacations when using liquid/cal hypo and I would leave the cover on to help with chlorine degradation from the sun and water loss from evaporation. I probably would fill the pool a little more than normal since you won't be around if there is some evaporation, I always filled my pool a little higher than needed normally so I wouldn't have to fill as often.

Since using chlorine in the slamming area is safe, I would raise the chlorine to a higher level (think of 1 to 2 PPM loss per day) so that it doesn't go below minimum required chlorine for your CYA amount.