Going on vacation, what chlorine level to leave pool at?

[sunlove]

Quick question!

Pool has been crystal clear and care has been a breeze for the past couple of weeks. I should be at 30 ppm on CYA, plus whatever ppm 1lb of trichlor would add. I am going on a short vacation next week, 5 days. I am putting a timer on the electrical outlet so the pump will run automatically. I know there will be plenty of bugs & leaves to clean out when we return, but as long as it's not green I can deal with that!

I want to heavily dose the pool with bleach before leaving (next Tuesday evening) to avoid algae yet not so much that it will hurt the liner. Should I just follow the best guess chlorine chart, and dose it to 30ppm where it says Shock+ or would Shock level at 15 be sufficient? I was under impression Shock+ is for dirty water but I am not totally clear on that.

BTW I have the BleachCalc app and thank you whoever came up with it, very handy!

[AnnaK]

Fill your trichlor floater with pucks and tie it to two sides of the pool so it stays pretty much in the middle. Dose the water with bleach to 15-20 ppm. Run the pump at night if your timer lets you make that setting, 6 hours should be plenty of time. If you have an opaque cover, put that on to help keep out sunlight. The trichlor will drop the pH some so be ready to raise that when you get back home, and have some bleach on hand to pour in after you return.

Have a great time on vacation! Don't give the pool another thought. Remember: you KNOW how to fix a green pool.

[Watermom]

Anna is right that the trichlor is acidic and will drop your pH. You don't say what your pH reading is, but I would advise you to bump it up to 7.8 or 7.9 to give it some wiggle room without getting too low.

Regarding the skimmer basket being full of bugs and leaves ------- how much debris are you talking about? Enough in 5 days time to totally fill the basket? You do NOT want that to happen as it might destroy your pump. If you have any doubt that the basket will get filled, you should probably ask a neighbor to come over and dump it out once in awhile for you.

[sunlove]

Thanks for the tips AnnaK and Watermom! I'm going to try not to worry about the pool while I'm gone. I guess if it does get green it's not the end of the world. I think I will ask the neighbor to dump the skimmer basket out just to be safe. My ph drifts upward on it's own, so good to go with trichlor.

I feel a little better now but still would feel A LOT better if ya'll were my neighbors :)

[AnnaK]

We've all wished that one time or another :)

I'm glad we could be of help, enjoy your vacation and let us know how the pool handled your absence.

[Watermom]

Yeah, green pools can be fixed if that does happen. I think you're smart to ask the neighbor to dump the basket. Just in case. Have a good trip and don't worry about the pool. It'll be there when you get back!

(Where in Texas do you live? That is actually where I am originally from -- Texas City.)

[sunlove]

East Texas, about 2 hours north of Houston. But we enjoy heading down that way to Galveston when we can!