Michrich - new 15' Intex but going on vacation.

[Michrich]

Hi-new to pool forum, have not had a pool before. About to put up an Intex easy set 15 foot by 48 inch. Have been reading and trying to educate myself about start up chemicals first. I'm not done reading, however I'm a bit concerned as 2-3 weeks after set up we will be on vacation for 10 days. Since I am new to this process already, I'm afraid we'll come home to green slime! Since we are in Texas and the temp will be about 100 degrees and sunny everyday I'm even more worried. Necessary to get someone to tend to our blow up pool while away? Seems crazy! Thanks for help

[Watermom]

Do you have a neighbor who can come by every couple of days and add some bleach for you?

[Michrich]

Watermelon,
I'm sure I could get someone to add bleach to the pool every couple days if necessary. I would like to avoid anyone having to go to too much trouble though. Would that be all that's necessary? As long as things were in good shape before we left?

[Watermom]

i see I now have a new name ------ Watermelon! ;)

Yes, if you have everything in good shape, adding bleach every few days should hold you while you are gone as long as you have adequate CYA in the pool and your pH is in range.

Are you going to use the 'recipe' for starting up an Intex-type pool? That procedure advising using dichlor to chlorinate with for the first few days to add chlorine and build up your CYA at the same time. Have you filled your pool yet? How many days after you fill it before you leave for vacation?

[Michrich]

Oh I am so sorry! Auto correct I guess! My pool is filling right now. Yes I am using the 7 day start up plan. We will not leave for vacation until 7/27/13. I understand about getting the cya level up. Hopefully all will be in order before we leave. Should we cover it when we leave? When do we cover it?

[PoolDoc]

15x48? About 4,400 gallons?

Unless you have a faithful neighbor, or really expensive water, it might be better to use your pool water to water your plants, and refill on return. Leave at least 6" in the bottom, and add some polyquat. Then pump the remainder out when you return and start over.

A pump like this is what you need (and will need this fall):
Superior Pump 91250 1/4 HP Thermoplastic Submersible Utility Pump (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000X05G1A/poolbooks/)

membership upgraded.

[Michrich]

Pool doc
Oh no! Start over? The pool is approx. 3700 gallons. The pool finished filling tonight. I have been doing the 7 day start up plan. Have been adding my bleach. My dichlor should arrive from Amazon on Thursday. I had already purchased a 5 way test kit before finding this site. I tested tonight and results as follows
Chlorine=3.0 ppm bromine=6.0 ppm Ph=8.2 Total alkalinity=60 ppm. The test kit is by kokido. They are not strips. I am just going to continue bleach until dichlor arrives. Will not add borax since ph a bit high. ? About alkalinity though. Have to try to salvage water on vacation. We are now on water restrictions here and could not fill up again this summer. So-what's the best plan? Maybe a dumb question-but how do I know if my cya level is good? When it is good?