Maintaining Intex pool with weekend use and how to manage when out of town

Hello. New user to this forum. Going to put up a 14x42 Intex pool this weekend, with a Intex 2500 pump. We primarily use it on the weekends down the shore. What would you suggest is the best way to keep it chlorinated and clean while we are away so that i can be used when we return. At most it goes unused 3-4 days before we are back in it.

Thanks for all your help and I have read your "read this first" info and will follow.

JDB

You could run a HiC2 pool - high chlorine and high CYA. Cover it when you are not there.

Good suggestion, Dave.

There is a relationship between CYA and needed chlorine levels. The higher your CYA, the higher your chlorine levels need to be. A pool that is a HiC2 pool, as Dave told you above, has high CYA and high chlorine. One advantage of doing this is that it allows you to go more days between adding doses of bleach. That might be an option for you to consider. You can read more about this relationship in this chart:>
http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

In order to do this, though, you would have to have a kit that can measure high chlorine levels --- Taylor K2006 or 2006C (better buy). you can't buy it locally but you can get it through this link:> http://pool9.net/tk/

(Until you registration is completed, you won't be able to see the rest of the forum while you are logged in. So, copy that link and then paste it into a browser window after you log out.)

. . . membership updated.

There are several options, some of which can be combined.

1. HiC2 pool, as mentioned. (requires a K2006 kit)
2. Pool cover, either solid or mesh. (important if thunderstorms, etc are likely to fill your pool with debris)
3. Borates > 60 ppm will reduce your pool's susceptibility to algae, and improve the 'aesthetics' somewhat. (requires Lamotte borate strips)
4. Phosphates < 100 ppb (0.1 ppm) will significantly reduce your pool's susceptibility to algae, including mustard algae.
5. Use a SWCG (salt water chlorine generator). (requires AquaCheck salt test strips, or the Taylor salt kit)
6. Add 4 -6 ppm of polyquat algaecide to the pool on the day before you leave.

All of the options above can be combined. See http://pool9.net/tk/ for testkit info.

7. Maintain copper level > 0.4 ppm. Effective against most forms of algae, but causes stains and green hair. Not supported here. MUST keep chlorine low.



CLOROX Pool Phosphate Remover (1 bottle needed)
Borax at Walmart (4 boxes needed). Muriatic acid at Lowes (1 gallon 31% needed). read http://pool9.net/muriatic/ BEFORE using muriatic acid.
CLOROX Pool Super Concentrated Algaecide (1 bottle needed)


[ WRONG: Turns out the Clorox phosphate remover is a seriously bad deal. A quart of the Kem-Tek predecessor product was labeled as removing 2 ppm PO4 from 10K gallons; the Clorox product is virtually the same price, but only removes 0.75 ppm from 10K gallons.

That means the Clorox product is actually 267% more expensive!]

. . . membership updated.