I was reading some posts and it seems every time someone comes back from vacation the pool has algae since they could not keep the maintanence going while away.
What are some good ways to keep the numbers up if you are not going to be able to "touch up" your pool daily?
Knowing some ideas now will help me, as well as others, in the future.
Thanks,
Deb
When going on vacation..how to keep numbers correct
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- Pool Industry Leader
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Depending on how long you are gone, you can put lots of Trichlor tabs in a floating feeder. That will usually get you chlorine for a week or a little more, but not usually for two weeks. It will be very acidic so you would start with higher pH (and generally 120 ppm TA) and realize that the CYA will rise during that time so may not be great to do for more than a week.
Another option is to just add a shock level of chlorine a couple of days before leaving, and then when it drops some add a full dose of PolyQuat 60 algaecide, then bring up the chlorine a little (the algaecide will consume some of the chlorine) to about double normal levels (about half shock levels) so an FC of around 20% of the CYA level. The algaecide will most likely last for two weeks to prevent algae, even if the chlorine went to zero.
Using a pool cover that is opaque to UV light from the sun will make the chlorine last much, much longer -- so shock levels should last at least two weeks if the pool is not used. If the temperature of the pool water is allowed to drop, then the chlorine will last longer still.
Of course, having a competent neighbor or friend drop by to add chlorine regularly would be great, but not always reliable. We usually have friends stay at our home if we are away for quite a while and they enjoy using the pool, but they only have to add chlorine twice a week because we have an opaque electric automatic safety cover.
Richard
Another option is to just add a shock level of chlorine a couple of days before leaving, and then when it drops some add a full dose of PolyQuat 60 algaecide, then bring up the chlorine a little (the algaecide will consume some of the chlorine) to about double normal levels (about half shock levels) so an FC of around 20% of the CYA level. The algaecide will most likely last for two weeks to prevent algae, even if the chlorine went to zero.
Using a pool cover that is opaque to UV light from the sun will make the chlorine last much, much longer -- so shock levels should last at least two weeks if the pool is not used. If the temperature of the pool water is allowed to drop, then the chlorine will last longer still.
Of course, having a competent neighbor or friend drop by to add chlorine regularly would be great, but not always reliable. We usually have friends stay at our home if we are away for quite a while and they enjoy using the pool, but they only have to add chlorine twice a week because we have an opaque electric automatic safety cover.
Richard
vacation
You could also try adding a pool rx unit in your skimmer. It bassically acts as a constant algeacide using copper,nickle,& silver dissolved in the water. It costs about $90 but if your chlorine runs out it keeps algea from blooming and it lasts all year.
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- Pool Industry Leader
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- Joined: Thu 21 Jun, 2007 21:27
- Location: San Rafael, California
The metal ion solution that pool tech refers to (copper is the primary algaecide; silver is the primary disinfectant though is too slow to use alone) will work to keep away algae and will inhibit bacterial growth, but as you say you will then have metals in your pool. If the pH goes up for any reason, these metals can precipitate out and stain pool surfaces, can make the pool water green during shocking at higher pH, and it can make blond hair have a green tint.
You could certainly use it and then add a metal sequestrant when you got back to keep the metals in solution. Or you can commit to using a metal ion method to prevent algae and just monitor your pool's pH and sequestrant levels and metal levels. If tests for metals weren't so expensive, then this might be a reasonable alternative, but they aren't so I think the PolyQuat 60 algaecide is your best bet. If you use a double dose, it should last you 2 weeks so the only issue would be very long vacations.
Richard
You could certainly use it and then add a metal sequestrant when you got back to keep the metals in solution. Or you can commit to using a metal ion method to prevent algae and just monitor your pool's pH and sequestrant levels and metal levels. If tests for metals weren't so expensive, then this might be a reasonable alternative, but they aren't so I think the PolyQuat 60 algaecide is your best bet. If you use a double dose, it should last you 2 weeks so the only issue would be very long vacations.
Richard
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