After several days of diligent bleach pouring & water testing and a WHOLE LOT of hand-holding/babysitting by some VERY helpful members on this board... I would like to report that my pool is now BLUE!
There are NO stains so far and the algae is all but gone (there is still some in the crevices by the stairs and a couple of very small patches in the deep end).
AND this morning's CL readings (maintained overnight) were:
FC: 7-8 ppm
TC: 5-6 ppm
pH is still at 7.4
YES, I *KNOW*: "Keep adding bleach and testing until it gets to and STAYS at 20ppm.."
See? I have been paying attention!
And I WILL continue to do that until it holds 20ppm OVERNIGHT.
But I am just so happy and RELIEVED and thankful to all of you for helping me get through this crisis and helping me get switched over to bleach!
If things continue at this rate, I'll post a pic of my sparkling, clear pool TOMORROW!
I can't say THANKS enough, but I had a *very* good ebay week so I splurged and purchased Ben's new test kit today... I figure if I'm going to do this, I may as well get educated and do it right!
VERY, VERY HAPPY,