Can my pool stay home alone for 10 days?

[amyinraleigh]

All the posts I've read dealing with pool maintenance while the owner is on vacation have included a "pool-sitter" - is this because it's impossible to go w/o? I have to go away for 10 days. I'm really not comfortable leaving the filter on a timer either. Can I just clean/vacuum really well, make sure everything tests w/in acceptable levels, dump in a bunch of chlorine and put the cover on? What would I be likely to come home to? It's an 18' Intex, gets sun about 5 hrs a day and our temps will likely be 85-95.

Thanks!! Amy

[chem geek]

All the posts I've read dealing with pool maintenance while the owner is on vacation have included a "pool-sitter" - is this because it's impossible to go w/o? I have to go away for 10 days and to be honest, given my choices of people to pop in and maintain the water, I almost think the pool would be better off left alone. I'm really not comfortable leaving the filter on a timer either. Can I just clean/vacuum really well, make sure everything tests w/in acceptable levels, dump in a bunch of chlorine and put the cover on? What would I be likely to come home to? It's an 18' Intex, gets sun about 5 hrs a day and our temps will likely be 85-95.

Thanks!! Amy

A cover will certainly help, but you should keep the pool pump (filter) on its timer. What is your concern with leaving the pool pump on when you are away?

And yes, dumping a lot of chlorine and keeping the pool covered *might* get you through 10 days, but this is partly dependent on your current CYA level, so can you let us know what that is? Also, is this cover you talk about opaque and prevents sunlight from getting through? Have you ever had experience using this cover and know that it in fact cuts down your chlorine loss significantly?

[EDIT]It is normally advisable to have someone pop in at least a couple of times during the week (assuming you have the cover) to add chlorine. If the cover cuts your chlorine loss to around 20% of the chlorine level per day (meaning that it loses 20% so that 80% is left after each day), then if you dump 20 ppm of chlorine it will end up with about 2 ppm after 10 days so that's why the CYA level is important to know -- if it's high, then those last days will be risky. Also, if you don't know how much your cover cuts down your chlorine loss, then you're taking a big risk since the 20% number is a guestimate. In my own pool with a cover (and the pump was running 8 hours every day), I've been able to do the dump chlorine routine for up to a week, but I've never gone longer than that and normally we have someone stay at our house and both enjoy and maintain the pool.[END-EDIT]

Richard

[poolmom06]

Well from my most recent experience,( last week) I would most definitely find someone who has a knowledge of pool care and understands the importance of chemical balance. I left for a five day vacation with the assurance from my BIL that the pool would be the same as I left it when I got home. Was it? Not in the least, I came home to a green pool on Sunday, several gallons of bleach later, it's blue again but very cloudy, I am very upset about this. So get someone you TRUST implicitly to take care of your pool!!
justmy two cents!

[sevver]

adding a bit of bleach to a pool daily is a very complex and intricate thing that I imagine is well beyond the grasp of some people. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who are quick to learn, the problem is, that if I ever were to go on vacation, most of those people would go with me.

[chem geek]

Amy,

I'd like to have more confidence in telling you how much chlorine to use and whether it will work for the 10 days. Are you leaving right away or do you have time to do an experiment? If you have time, then the following would give us enough info to figure this out.

1) We definitely need your CYA level so get that measured (do you have Ben's test kit?). This will tell us the minimum final chlorine level you can have on day 10.

2) In the evening (or any time not during the heat of the day when the sun is on the pool) test your chlorine level and add enough chlorine to raise the level to at least 5 ppm, though 10 would be even better (assuming you are using a FAS-DPD drop chlorine test kit; otherwise, 5 should probably be your starting point). Then, cover your pool. If your pump is not normally running at this time, turn it on manually until step 3.

3) After an hour, measure the chlorine level in your pool. This is your starting chlorine level. You can turn off your pump back to its normal automatic mode if its normally off at this time.

4) After 24 hours, measure the chlorine level in your pool. The ratio of this amount over the amount found in step 3 gives your retention ratio. If you want, you can continue the experiment for another 24 hours (don't add any more chlorine) since that will give you more accuracy. Three days would be even better. At the end of your experiment, you can uncover your pool during the day which will breakdown a lot of the chlorine so you'll be able to swim (if you want).

The formula for figuring out how much chlorine to add is as follows.

Starting Chlorine = (Ending Chlorine) / (Retention Ratio)^10

The "^10" means raising the Retention Ratio to the 10th power (the y^x function on the calculator).

Hopefully, the ratio of chlorine from day 2 to day 1 is about the same as the ratio from day 3 to day 2. If so, then we can be reasonably sure at our prediction. If the drop is very slow, then we can use the drop over 2 or 3 days via "Retention Ratio = ( (FC at Day N)/(FC at Day 1) )^(1/(N-1))

A simple alternative is to dump a whole lot of chlorine -- 30 ppm -- as if you were shocking the pool, but because it is kept covered, it won't really be shocked well. Your cover may not like this high chlorine level, but it will just be for 10 days (no guarantees).

Richard

[Phillbo]

another advantage of a SWG I guess.

[Watermom]

Shocking the pool and then covering it is not good for your solar cover.

[sevver]

another advantage of a SWG I guess.

Looking better to me everyday. That and a timer and what else is there? So long as the Ph is somewhat stable and everything is in check then no problems.

[chem geek]

Shocking the pool and then covering it is not good for your solar cover.

I was afraid of that. So that means that if she feels she has to do the chlorine dump approach, then doing the experiment to determine the minimum amount of chlorine that is needed would be a wise thing to do (rather than do shock levels).

I had also thought of the possibility of temporarily switching to Tri-Chlor tabs in a floating feeder, but I don't think they will last for the 10 days and they'll be hard on the pH (though she could start at a higher pH to start).

Richard

[sevver]

How much chlorine do you usually use? Is it not possible to just tell someone to add say like a half of gallon a day til you return? Even the neighbor or something. Pay them... Everyone likes money. Get some kid, tell him that you will give him $50 if you come back to a clean pool, he has to add bleach every day, if he messes it up, no money. If it is really good tell him he gets $100.