Preparing for vacation (in July)

[SnakeBuilder]

Good morning,
I have a fairly new plaster pool (November 2020) in Houston TX. I have been doing a bunch of lurking on the forums, but this is my first post. After much learning, I think I have a handle on the basics, and my pool is looking all sparkly, and the water feels great!

But...we are planning on a vacation after the 4th of july, and will be gone nearly two weeks. The first week I will have no backup, but I can call on neighbors after that first week.

Here are my numbers right now -
FC - 2.0 (I add 10% bleach daily to get to 4.0, and it drifts down to this level next day)
CC - 0.0
PH - 7.8 (My pool pH rises rapidly - more on this later)
TA - 65
CH - 420
CYA - 30 (I left headroom here for pucks on purpose)

My plan (comments/criticism welcome!) is to use Trichlor during my vacation. I am running an experiment now about how much to load, and how much flow in the chlorinator to keep FC stable, so I am confident that I’ll be able to keep it chlorinated until neighbors can help during week two.

My concern (and the reason for this post) is pH rise. I know that a you’ll see this with a new plaster pool, and with my in-floor I have a lot of aeration from the spa overflow into the pool. (I run the in-floor 2 hours twice a day with good results). Right now I’m adding 1-2 cups of acid per day to keep up with the pH rise. It’ll go from 7.6-8.0+ in 2-3 days if I don’t add acid.

So the question is twofold:
1) is there anything I can do now to help? Less aeration? Lower TA?
2) How should I manage this during my vacation? Is it advisable to drop the pH way down (7.0-7.2) and let it drift from there? Is there another way?

Any thoughts/help from the experts would be appreciated!

 

[zea3]

Trichlor pucks are acidic and will help keep the pH down. Track your pH during your test run. How long has it been since the pool was plastered? By July you may see your pH stabilize a bit.

 

[SnakeBuilder]

My pool was built in November. Hopefully we’ll get stabilization.

Any input on my questions (especially #2 above) would be appreciated!

 

[DeanP66]

I think if you start with pH at around 7.2 - 7.4, you'll be fine. Since you're using pucks, for your pool each puck will raise FC by 4.4ppm, raise CYA by 2.7ppm, and lower pH by 0.23 so if you put 4 pucks in your feeder, that should get you plenty of FC throughout the week as well as bump your CYA by about 10 when you're done and the pH drop from the pucks will offset any climb under normal circumstances.

One other thing, since you will be increasing your CYA to 40 with the pucks, you should increase your FC as well. I'd target 7ppm and never let it fall below 3.

 

[mgtfp]

If the acidity from the pucks is not sufficient to control the pH-rise while you're gone, you could follow Marty's advice here (he has an SWG, so he doesn't use pucks while away):

we go for up to a couple months occassionally and do not have a pool service. I do mix up a dilute muriatic acid solution in a marked container and my brother adds so much every so many days if we are gone that long. From record keeping I know what the pool consumes depending on time of year.

The dilution makes it less daunting for someone with no MA experience, not having to deal with the fumes. Should you decide to do that and prepare a container with diluted acid, just remember to always add acid to water, not the other way round, or you could get nasty splashes. Or buy the 15% strength variant - usually double the price (same price for half the strength), but if it's only once it wouldn't hurt too much.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You're running your FC too low now, by taking it up to only 4ppm daily. One hot sunny day or a couple extra swimmers and you'll be below your minimum.
I would aim for 5ppm at this point, so if you lose 2 now (early spring) you'll be at 3ppm which gives a modicum of wiggle room. And come summer you'll need to up your CYA higher along with higher FC to manage.

I personally have no qualms about keeping my FC on the high side. I never want to risk algae. In almost 10 years of pool ownership I never have had algae, so it works for me.

A salt water chlorine generator (SWG) makes vacations a snap. Especially if you can cover the pool.

Maddie

 

[HermanTX]

My pool was built in November. Hopefully we’ll get stabilization.

Any input on my questions (especially #2 above) would be appreciated!

I live in west Houston. Since you are using LC your only alternative is pucks since no one can help - at least for the first week as you state. Remember that July is really hot so your FC burn off will be higher then it is now during your test - especially with this cooler weather we are having in April. I have been successful with raising my FC up above the target levels before I depart, then have 4-6 pucks in a floater that keeps chlorine in the pool full time. It does not hurt to even have FC up to SLAM level because you have no bather load - just the UV is your main consumer of FC. The only other thing you need to consider is water level. If you have an autofill then that is good to cover your evaporation but it will be added with no chlorine so that is another reason to keep your FC on the high side before you depart.
As stated by others, the pucks will add some acid so if you want to drop your pH before you depart that is fine, just not too low.
Since you may help after the first week, show your neighbor where you will store the LC and have them add whatever your Pool Math calculates for your estimated daily loss. If your neighbor will only come once or twice, then just ensure they understand to add the required volume. Also, have them top up your pucks as that will keep the acid in as well. You may not want your neighbor handling liquid acid. Good Luck.

 

[mknauss]

you could follow Marty's advice here (he has an SWG, so he doesn't use pucks while away):

For short trips (a couple weeks) I will use a floater with one or two pucks in it for the acid. The SWCG maintains the FC.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

For short trips (a couple weeks) I will use a floater with one or two pucks in it for the acid. The SWCG maintains the FC.

Brilliant! I would not have considered this. I learned something new today, so I can sign off.

 

[red-beard]

A couple of thoughts. If you have someone helping you, especially someone not familiar with a pool, it is a lot easier to work with dry stuff than wet stuff.

I used cal-hypo powder for chlorination last year over liquid chlorine because it did not degrade in the Houston heat. You can get a bucket and make your own packets with plastic bags or just buy cal-hypo powder shock bags. After you calculate the amounts, tell them to drop in "x" number of bags. Easy-peezy. Cal-hypo does add calcium, but this is usually less of an issue than the CYA from Tri-Chlor tablets. At 420 CH, a week or 2 of cal-hypo is not going to hurt anything.

I would do the same thing for pH. Get some of the dry acid, calculate your expected need, measure out what you think is needed each day and bag it up.

Mark everything very well
Make explicit directions for the products

 

[Orion7319]

For short trips (a couple weeks) I will use a floater with one or two pucks in it for the acid. The SWCG maintains the FC.

This makes me wish that someone made dry acid pucks... but I guess they would have sulfates in them, but still...