Just completed my first test with Ben's excellent kit.

Pool is a one-year-old vinyl AG, full of 23.5K gal. of naturally acidic well-water, sitting in the hot Oklahoma summer sunshine.

For last six weeks, I've been adding 1 qt. of 6.25% liquid "bleach" every night after sunset, except on Friday nights when I'd shock with two lbs of lithium hypochlorite and (to use it up) 1 lb of non-chlorine "Wipe-Out".
I have also been adding borax and sodium bicarbonate (abt. 1 lb of each every 5 days, give or take) to raise pH and Alk as I felt needed.
Lastly, every Saturday morning after sunup, I've added 3.4 oz of 40% Alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. (I know, I know, get a poly-quat instead.)

No much rain this year. I run the pump on 1/2 hp for no less than 6 and no more than 14 hours every day. (Still on a manual switch )

So far this year, I've had very clean water and no signs of any algae. Only some oarsmen or backswimmers. Not sure which, but the kids net them out and the poulation is not uncontrollable.

I also feel pretty certain that the mineral and metal content of our water is what keeps the pH from raising much for long.

I'm considering a chlorinator of some sort, but I'm not convinced that I can successfully explain to our financial officer (and wife) that spending almost two grand total for a good SWC is a good investment. (Yes, I've read the posts re. SWC on AG pools: But I'm not convinced the salt would corrode our pool any more than our acidic and semi-burried poolwalls.)

Are there other, less expensive methods or systems that work automatically (so we can take a vacation away from home once in a while?)

Here are the test results from this morning before I added the weekly algaecide dose...

FC=1 (although it may be lower)
CC=0
TC=1
pH=6.8 (Double-checked with a calibrated Hanna pHep pocket pH meter.)
Alk=100
Cal=80
Cya=0
Temp=82.5 (We topped it off last night. Normally it is about 90 degrees.)

TIA for your feedback!