Leaving for 16 day vacation - what to do with pool

I recently came back from a two week vacation and found my pool level 1.5 feet below normal with water greener than Shrek. I usually turn off my skimmers before leaving but this time I forgot.

The pump ran dry. The booster pump for my polaris went bye bye but the main pump seems ok. I don't know how it survived. It was set for 5 hours a day. Must have quickly got too hot and shut itself off.

I set my sprinkler system to dump water in the pool every other night expecting a lot of evaporation in the Texas heat but I guess it wasn't enough.

In my opinion, the most important thing to do (if you leave the pumps set to turn on) is to turn off your skimmers.

Why not use one of those automatic water levelers that hookup to a hose they run about $80...

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Originally Posted by frankcav

Why not use one of those automatic water levelers that hookup to a hose they run about $80...

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I am just affraid to put in something new and then what if it fails when I am away. What if watter keeps filling up? I am just kind of paranoid on these things :-(.

About closing skimmer. What do you mean by that? I have skimmer that has 2 holes at the bottom. One goes to pump, another to main drain. So if water level is below skimmer line, that water starts to come in from main drain. Do I have to close anything in this case?

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Originally Posted by vim

I am just affraid to put in something new and then what if it fails when I am away. What if watter keeps filling up? I am just kind of paranoid on these things :-(.

About closing skimmer. What do you mean by that? I have skimmer that has 2 holes at the bottom. One goes to pump, another to main drain. So if water level is below skimmer line, that water starts to come in from main drain. Do I have to close anything in this case?

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Skimmer: Only a concern if you decide to put your pump on a timer (I'm not recommending leaving it running 24/7). I'm talking about closing the valve to the skimmer to disable it.