I think a previous post of mine got lost in cyberspace, so I'll recap. My 6PM reading yesterday showed less than .5 total Cl. Added another package of CalHypo (2nd one of the day).

Tested again at about 9PM, Cl 5+, possibly 6
Free Cl 2
Added my 3rd package of CalHypo for overnight. BTW, added water in the pool and cartridge filter was cleaned. City water is considered safe, but its source has an algae issue. That will probably always be the case, according to the newspaper, although some times of the year are worse than others.

This AM, water is clearer, did a full battery of tests:
Cl 5+ looks like 6 on the distilled method
Free 4-5
pH 7.8 (little bugger crept up on me)
TA 80
Hardness 90

Plan for the day is to add muriatic to drop my pH to about 7.5, add baking soda to increase TA again, add CalHypo now and keep retesting.

My entire pool is in full sun from just before 9AM until about 5 when parts start to go in the shade. Although I've used up my stabilizer tests, I know my level is below 30. I question my first test after doing the second. I could have slightly less than 30, I may have none?? Couldn't I at least add enough CYA to raise my level a mere 10ppm safely? Maybe I'd stand a better chance of having my pool hold some chlorine?

I hesitate to buy another kit with stabilizer tests in them because I'll end up with even more tests that I've already duplicated, plus Ben's should arrive sometime in the future, but I guess I'll do what I have to, to know my water.

Sandy