New Member and glad for this site!

[sjt6052]

Thank you Carl for the info..everything helps. Just to add..we first filled the pool with well water and spent a week and a half trying to correct that major error. We finally realized we were fighting a lost cause and drained and cleaned the pool and just this morning had city water delivered. The water is crystal clear and we'd sure like to keep it that way. I have the HTH 6-way test kit and the results of the first test were as follows:
Chlorine: .5 or less (very slight tint but almost clear)
PH: 8.2 or slightly higher (dark purple)
TA: as near as I can figure (my eyes aren't what they used to be) 270
Hardness: 170

I had some HTH PH- (this was before I got a chance to read your post about the Muriatic Acid) and added what they said to: 6 ounces

The next PH reading was 7.8.
We put the cover on for the night as it is supposed to storm.

Suggestions as to what to do next would be very much appreciated. The filter was left on for the night.
Steve

[Watermom]

Since you have a freshly filled pool, using the Super Simple Start up Recipe that PoolDoc linked for you above would be a great way to start. But, since your pH is high, you won't necessarily want to add the nightly Borax.

Your TA is way too high. Read this. It explains how to lower it:> http://pool9.net/alk-step and also read about using muriatic acid safely:> http://pool9.net/muriatic/