I'm pretty sure it's higher than usual but I've never been able to test accurately since I just got Ben's kit. We had a bird poop attack a few weeks ago and got that chlorine smell so I shocked one night (guessing at 15ppm) and made sure I kept it on the high side of regular maintenance for a few days and it returned to the normal 2-3 qt of bleach (15 x 30 AG should be around 14,850 gal) every other night maintenance keeping in the 2-4/3-6 OTO test range. Going from 15ppm last night to 12ppm this am to 5ppm in the afternoon does say something though. I think it smelled better this evening after dosing it back up to 15.

I adjusted from 30 to 40CYA last weekend since I was able to test for that with the new kit. I also raised the Alk from about 60 to 100 thinking it would keep my PH steadier, but it still keeps going down and I have to adjust every 4 days or so w/ Borax.

I can't wait for all of this to become old hat. I guess when you get your first pool you just gotta learn how your pool behaves and learn how to anticipate its needs. I'm very grateful I haven't woken up to anything green I'm also very grateful to everyone's excellent advise on this site.

Shelley