chlorine vs pH, what do i do?

i am new to owning a pool. i have an intex 15' above ground round pool (48" depth). ive been testing the chlorine and ph levels using a basic water tester that i bought at walmart. our chlorine was always low. the oto formula wouldnt even react at all, and remain clear. the ph at the time was 7.6. now that our chlorine level has evened out to 1.5, where the directions tell us it should be, the ph is 8.2 or higher. that is the highest / darkest color on our tester to compare to.
Im just curious - ive googled and it seems i cant find a straight answer as what to do now. all sites basically suggest that i have a better test kit. I want to know, is my ph level unsafe for us to swim? i have three kids ages 1-9 and I cant imagine that id be putting them at risk for harm. can anyone help me? i have no clue what im doing here. how do i fix the ph without lowering my chlorine? what effects will high ph have on us and our pool?

You can easily lower pH using muriatic acid. Information about using it can be found here:> http://pool9.net/muriatic/
(It is not dangerous --- the kids can go ahead and swim.)

You DO need to get a better test kit. The test kit that we think is by far the best is the Taylor K2006 or 2006C (better buy). Not available locally but you can get it through this link that takes you to Amazon: http://pool9.net/tk/

Is this a freshly filled pool? Exactly what all have you added to the pool, meaning ingredients and not just product names like 'shock.'

Having a chlorine reading of 1.5ppm may or may not be where it should be. Chlorine levels are dependent on CYA readings. So, depending on what your CYA level is, you may need more chlorine. You can read more about the chlorine and CYA connection here:> http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

(The Taylor K2006 kit can test CYA as well as chlorine readings past 5ppm. Since it has to be ordered, in the meantime, you may want to pick up a cheap HTH 6-Way drops-based kit from Walmart. It can also test CYA (only has enough reagents to test it twice, though). It is not a replacement for the K2006 but will help until you can order the other.)

Also while you are at WallyWorld, get several jugs of their generic 8.25% unscented bleach.

Repost with requested info and then someone here can try and help you.

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