Vacation Plans and Fall prep

[Watermom]

You don't necessarily have to have anybody test. You can just ask them to stop by every 2 or 3 days and slowly pour a jug of bleach into the skimmer while the pump is running. Maybe they would be willing to hang around for an hour afterwards to let the pump run after the addition. They wouldn't really have to test anything.

[Poconos]

It would be good if you had a timer on the pump to just run it an hour a couple times a day. However you do run the risk of damage if something does wrong. An alternative would be a sump pump (approx $80 at Home Depot) placed on a lower step with the discharge at the other side of the pool. Put the pump on a cheapo appliance timer. That would give you some circulation. The pumps I use are Flotecs and are just the pump, no float switch. Shock the pool before you leave and run the pH up a little. Also get a floater and load it with pucks and tie it so it stays in the middle of the pool and away from the edges. The pucks drive the pH down thus raise pH before leaving. This should easily get you through 2 weeks unattended.
Al