Here is the newest skinny ........ I had already added 1.42 gallons of bleach last night before I got your email.

After blending/filtering all night ..... here are my test results:

pH - less than 7.0, base demand = 20 drops
FC - 1.5 ppm
CC - 0.5 ppm
Alk - 110 ppm
CYA - 80 ppm

I don't think that I have a "metal" problem to any degree with my well water ..... I never see much (if any) staining either around the pool or inside the house (bathrooms, washer, dishwasher, etc).

Using the guide in the Taylor test kit and calculating based on 6% chlorine with a 25000 gallon pool, I come up with adding just 54.4 ounces of bleach (I'll use a 1/2 gallon) to get in the proper FC range

Then, also using the Taylor guide, I nned to add 16 pounds of soda ash to increase my pH to the proper range. I am figuring on only adding 12 pounds (I am a bit timid since I want to use the pool by Monday for the 4th).

Let me know what you think. I would like to hear your opinion but if you are tied up, I'll go ahead with the plan by late tonight (9:00 pm EST or so).

As to the poly ..... right now I am not showing any signs of algae but my history has not been good. Shall I go ahead and add a quart?

Again, thanks for your help to this newbie.

JHK49