In need of advice, once again!

[rannrich]

I have a couple of questions and wanted to put them in one post and I didn't know exactly where to post them.

We opened the pool in March, thanks to all the good advice from you all the water was crystal clear. But due to a family emergency (lost my mom) I was gone most of April and when I got back the pool wasn't holding chlorine and was cloudy.

I have since killed the alge, what is left of it is laying on the bottom of the pool I hope to have it gone by this weekend. Wondering, is it safe to go in the pool to vacuum with the dead alge? I need to try to vacuum it out or at least stir it up so that it filters out through the sock (so glad I purchased it based on recommendations here).

The second part of this is that one month after my mom, I lost my dad. I will be gone for only a week this time (hopefully) and don't want to come back to the same problem as last time.

Please any advice would be appreciated. I have been reading through the forums but can't decide what is best. Do I increase the cya and chlorine level or do I just leave the cya alone and give it a good douse of chlorine before I go and hope for the best. I have no one to come over to take care of the pool and I do not want to leave the filter running while I am away.

Thank you in advance,
Renee

[aylad]

Hi Renee,

I am so sorry to hear of your losses--this is an awful time for you and I hope that things start getting better for you soon.

Getting in the pool with the dead algae isn't really a problem health-wise, the only issue would be that if the pool is cloudy, it's hard to see anybody that might be underwater having troubles--so as long as that won't be a problem for you, I wouldn't worry about it.

I don't know what your current CYA level is, so it's hard to say whether you should increase it or not. These are the first few suggestions that come to mind...

1)if you have a cover, then raise the chlorine level and then cover it up,
2)Give it a good dose of polyquat 60 algaecide, then shock the next day (similar to how many people close for the winter)
3) Use a floater with trichlor pucks in it, tethered to both sides of the pool so that it won't float over and sit next to your liner for any length of time.

I'll do some thinking on it, but these are the three most logical choices I can come up with. And, after all that, the worst thing that will happen is that you come home to algae, which can always be cleaned up later--I suspect that the pool is very low on your priority list right now, as it should be. It can always be dealt with later on.

[rannrich]

aylad

Thank you, you are correct the pool has not been high on the priority list but I don't want to come home to something that will take weeks to clear up.

Here are the current numbers:

fc 7
cc .5
ph 7.8
ta 120
cya - I have read some discussion on how this test should be done here so don't laugh.
facing the sun 40
back to the sun 50

Thanks again for all your help, I don't own a cover, but #2 and #3 are possibles. The pucks and the floater I know I can get, not sure where to get the polyquat.

Renee

[Watermom]

A CYA reading of 40 and 50 are basically the same since that test is pretty subjective anyways. Do you have a neighbor who could come by every few days and dump a couple gallons of bleach in for you while you are gone? That is also another option.

(My sympathies to you.)

[rannrich]

Thank you Watermom,

Unfortunately, we have no one that will be able to help us out next week.

[Watermom]

Check your pool store for the Polyquat. Do NOT substitute a different one. Some others cause lots of problems. If you can't find it, don't worry about it. Use Janet's suggestions above and if you do have some algae when you get back, we can help you get it cleared up. There are lots of things in life more important than a pristine swimming pool. Deal with what is important now and we'll help you worry about the pool later. Take care.