Hello!
I am SO happy I found this forum! A lot of great information!!

I was thrilled when I found the Intex 7 day start up plan....HOWEVER.....I found it 2 days AFTER I had already filled my pool with hose water (I have city water, not well water).

I purchased the HTH 6-way Drops, bleach and some borax at WalMart today.

After completing the HTH test here are my results

Chlorine/Bromine - .5-1ppm
pH - 7.2
Alkalinity - 60ppm
Hardness - 70ppm
CYA - 30ppm

I have no idea what this all means!!! Other than that I need chlorine since nothing has been put in the pool since filling.

Per the 7 day plan post, I added 1 cup of bleach to help the chlorine and 3/4 cup of borax to up the pH.

Do I now just follow the daily care..... testing Chlorine and pH in the morning and adding bleach and/or borax as needed per the levels as well as nightly dose of bleach? Can I continue using bleach as chlorine since I cannot seem to find any of the dichlor you recommend, and if so, what stabilizer would you recommend to help prevent the bleach from getting sunned out? Are the other levels of my water acceptable - alkalinity, hardness, CYA? If not, what additives would I use to get them at the proper levels, as I don't see that mentioned in the 7 day plan?

I appreciate all of your help in answering my questions! I'm new to pool ownership and we love the pool so much I want to make sure I am taking care of it properly!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!