What to do with your pool when you go on vacation

Clean it, balance it, shock it and leave it full. The checklist:

• Skim, brush and vacuum so nothing is left to eat chlorine.
• Balance pH and alkalinity, then shock the night before you leave.
• Clean the filter so it can run the whole time.
• Top up the water to the middle of the skimmer, because evaporation will take some.
• Set the pump timer to its normal daily run.
• Put loose furniture and toys away from the pool.

Yes. Water that does not circulate goes green fast in Florida. Keep it on its normal daily schedule. A variable speed pump can run long hours at low speed cheaply. See how long should a pool pump run in Florida.

About a week in summer, longer in winter. In July a pool can go from clear to green in two or three days once the chlorine runs out, which is covered in why is my pool green. A floating chlorinator with tablets buys some time, but it adds stabilizer and does nothing about leaves, the filter or the pH.

A cover helps. It keeps leaves out and cuts evaporation. It does not replace chlorine or circulation, so balance and shock before it goes on, and keep the pump running.

Set the house and pool up before you go, because there may be no time later. Put away furniture and anything that can blow into the pool or through a window, and arrange for someone to check the property after a storm. Ready.gov has the full home checklist. Do not drain the pool before a storm; the hurricane pool checklist explains why.

Skim it, test it and look at the filter gauge. If the chlorine is low or the water is dull, shock it that night. If it went green, follow how to get algae out of a pool. Then clean the filter, because it has been catching everything while you were gone.

Came home to a green pool? A green pool cleanup gets it back without spending your first week home on it.

For anything longer than a week, or for a season away, yes. A weekly pool service keeps the same day every week, cleans the filter every visit and has every chemical in the monthly price, so the pool is ready when you walk back in instead of being the first job of your return.