Leaving Town for the Summer: Keeping Your Pool Swimmable While You're Away

Summer travel and desert pools don't mix well. A week at the beach or a month with family back east sounds easy to plan for, right up until you land and drive home to a pool that has changed color. The good news is that most of what goes wrong with an unattended pool is predictable, which means it can be prevented.

What happens to an unattended pool

Start with the sun. With afternoons around 110 degrees, sanitizer burns off quickly, and nobody is there to add more. Water temperature climbs, and warm water is the best environment algae could ask for. A pool that's fine on the day you leave can be on its way to green within a week.

Next, the debris. Palo verde and mesquite drop litter whether anyone is home or not, and the baskets fill. A full skimmer basket restricts the water going to the pump, so circulation drops just when you need it most. A single monsoon storm adds dust, leaves and sometimes a bird nest's worth of material in one afternoon, and that sits in the water for as long as you're gone.

Then evaporation. Desert heat and dry air pull water out of a pool every day. If the level drops below the skimmer, the pump pulls in air and can run dry, which is hard on the motor. Add a power flicker that resets the timer, and a pool can sit without any circulation for days before anyone knows.

Why shutting everything off is the wrong move

Some owners turn the equipment off to save on the power bill, assuming a quiet pool stays quiet. It doesn't. Still water loses its sanitizer faster and grows algae faster, and the savings disappear the first time you pay for a green-to-clean. Circulation is cheaper than recovery. If you're leaving for more than a few days, the question isn't whether the pool needs attention. It's who is giving it attention.

What vacation service is for

Vacation service exists for exactly this gap. The idea is simple: someone who knows pools looks after yours while you're gone, so the surface stays netted, the baskets stay clear, the equipment gets a glance, and the water chemistry doesn't wander. The goal is that you come home to the pool you left, not a project waiting at the back door. For a one-week trip in spring, you might manage with a timer and a neighbor. For two weeks or more in June, July or August, the odds turn against an unattended pool, and the cost of a green recovery is usually far higher than the cost of staying ahead of it.

We can talk through your dates before you go. The office takes calls Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm at (480) 272-7260, so if you're leaving on a weekend, call the week before. Don't leave it to the airport.

Before you leave: a short checklist

• Tell your pool company your departure and return dates, in writing if you can
• Make sure the pump timer is set and a spare set of eyes knows where the breaker panel is
• Clear the baskets and skim the surface the day you go
• Take toys, floats and loose items out of the water and store them dry
• Ask a neighbor to watch for storm damage, or a pool that has lost its water level
• Leave a number where you can be reached if something unusual happens

If you're already a weekly customer

Weekly customers have a head start, because the pool is already on a schedule and someone already knows its habits. Even so, tell us when you'll be away. A pool with no one using it needs a different eye than one with a family in it every afternoon, and a long absence is a good moment to look over the equipment before the heat of August.

Coming home

On the day you return, walk the pool before anyone jumps in. Look at the color, the water level, and the surface. Check that the pump is running and that the baskets aren't packed. If something looks off, call before you swim. Green or cloudy water can hide things on the bottom, and it isn't worth guessing.

Del Sol Pool Service & Repair is family owned and operated, fully licensed, bonded and insured, ROC#275375, serving Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix. Read more about vacation services, and get in touch before your trip.