OK, back again! Here's my second set of numbers (about 5 days later):

CL 2.0 (was 2.0 before)
TC 2.0 (2.0 before)
PH 8.2 (7.6 before - YIKES!)
TA 120 (80 before - PB added baking soda to raise)
CYA 40 (30 before - time to get rid of the sticks!)

What could have made my PH go up? I was under the impression that baking soda would raise TA without raising PH. When I did the acid demand test, 1 drop was needed to bring the color back down to the 7.6 color. According to the chart in the test kit, I need to add 1 pint of muriatic acid. Is it OK to wait until tomorrow to do this? I'm having people over swimming today, and I'm a little leary of adding acid to the water my child is going to be swimming in a few hours from now.

Also re: PH, yesterday we had about 2.5 inches of rain. My understanding was that our rain was slightly acidic. The pump ran all night, so I feel like the rain water would be mixed in well by now. I'm wondering what my PH would have been without the rain!

Other than taking out the sticks, stocking up on bleach, and adding the muriatic acid, is there anything else I should be doing? I'm going to try to get my CL level up to 3 to 6 ppm. How long after I add bleach should I wait to test? Also, I'm going out of town for a week next weekend, so I guess it will be alright to put the sticks back in for that?

Judy