I will be gone for two weeks...what to do with my pool?

[True Blue]

I will be heading out west for vacation the last week of June/first week of July. My usual set of friends that come to take care of the pool, well, one of them has recently had surgery and cannot swim, so I hate to ask them to come and care for the pool. If I can't find anyone else that I trust, does anyone else have any recommendations? I don't want to put my winter cover back on, though putting my solar cover on would be okay. I don't have a timer on my pump, but I suppose that I could install one. I just always worry about the water level getting too low and the pump coming on.

[Watermom]

What is your CYA level? If you can't find anyone and the pool does turn green, it really isn't that big of a deal. Smack it hard with some bleach for a few days and run the pump and it will clean up fast.

[True Blue]

CYA level is about 45 ppm. I could probably get a neighbor to put some bleach in every now and then, but I don't really want to burden him with asking him to run the filter/motor, check water levels, check readings. Would it be bad to have someone put a jug in every three days or so?

[Watermom]

Having someone add a jug every 2-3 days would probably work. Can you get a timer and just have it run for a couple hours a day so that on days when bleach is added, it will circulate. If your neighbor is coming over every couple of days, he could notice if the water level is low and if so, turn the timer off. He wouldn't really need to do water testing. Is your pH pretty stable or does it tend to fall?

[Phillbo]

I have one of these that I use when I travel for extended periods of time:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=636&q=automatic+pool+water+level+control&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=4110435716070935184&sa=X&ei=9HL7TYDgI8Lo0QGwsPyXAw&ved=0CF4Q8gIwAg

Given that I have a timer on my pump and a salt water pool I do not have to worry about adding chlorine.

[True Blue]

Watermom, my pH is fairly stable now at about 7.2.

[True Blue]

I have one of these that I use when I travel for extended periods of time:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=636&q=automatic+pool+water+level+control&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=4110435716070935184&sa=X&ei=9HL7TYDgI8Lo0QGwsPyXAw&ved=0CF4Q8gIwAg

Given that I have a timer on my pump and a salt water pool I do not have to worry about adding chlorine.

Wow! That looks pretty awesome. It might be a handy little investment!

[kelemvor]

Why not shock before he leaves and throw a puck dispenser in?

[Watermom]

He could except that his CYA is already at 45 and he probably doesn't want it to go higher.

True Blue -- I'd take the pH up to about 7.7 or 7.8 before you leave. That gives you a little wiggle room in case it drops some while you are gone.

[True Blue]

He could except that his CYA is already at 45 and he probably doesn't want it to go higher.

True Blue -- I'd take the pH up to about 7.7 or 7.8 before you leave. That gives you a little wiggle room in case it drops some while you are gone.

I'll do that, Watermom.

I might add that, again, "he" is "she" in this case. :)

[Watermom]

Sorry! That is twice I have done that! My apologies.