Hi Ben -

so we decided not to go away for the weekend and thus will be able to pay attention to the pool. We didnt have enough time to get the materials we needed, follow the pH and be on the road ahead of traffic. We plan to go away for the weekend in about 2 weeks so that will give me enough time to plan on how to get the pool ready for us to leave. We may have a longer vacation planned in august that we will need to prepare for as well.

should I consider doing the borax/muriatic acid method before then (like next week) in preparation ( and add the polyquat before we actually leave) or will the pool be in a better position to leave in 2 weeks and maybe only need a maintenance dose of polyquat?

This mornings numbers look good: FC 5.5-6 CC 0.5 - 1 alk 70-80 pH 7.4 CYA 20-30 as my best guess

We swam yesterday for the first time - my husband first - with no ill effects; then my kids. everyone is fine this morning as well. no burning or red eyes.

1. do you want me adding weekly doses of maintenance polyquat?

2. what is the procedure for after swimming? do I just maintain my chlorine with the pucks or do I need to shock the pool? you have told me to stay away from liquid bleach so how do I do that ?

3. can you use a tablet feeder in an above ground pool or could I get something like a floater to hold extra pucks for times away from the pool?

4. let me know about whether I should do the borax/acid method even though we aren't going away ( are those amounts correct for a 10 thousand gallon AG pool? 8 boxes seems crazy high! I'll have to go to like 4 stores to find them!)

Thanks! aciam