Where to start?

[Sully]

Shock your pool and keep it shocked.....still cloudy , your either on the end of a bloom or just about to start another.

Keep it shocked until your water is clear, then do another test and post those numbers.

[GraceByDesign]

you need to get a better number for your CYA so you know what your shock level is. Sounds like you might have a pretty high CYA, so seems to me shocking to 20 or 25 would not be out of line. I don't know what "halfway to the scale that starts at 100" means, so until you get better numbers, that's all the advice I have!

With a TC of 2 and FC of 1, that means CC of 1, so you need to shock until CC is 0

Is the pool plaster, fiberglass or vinyl?

[Steve #1]

OK, I had a little less than 3 gal of bleach around the house (even stole the one off the washing machine ). According to BleachCalc, that should get me close. Not sure how to test for a level this high as my little test kit only goes to 5.

The pool, I believe, is plaster.

[keithw]

If your CYA is 90+ you will have to permanently maintain your CL above what your current test kits is capable of reading and shock to well above what it can test. And since you have not definite grasp on your total pool volume, bleachcacl.exe can't be considerly wholly reliable for you. I would recommend that you quickly get a test kit that will test CL levels higher than 5ppm. A dpd-fas test kit. The Taylor K-2006 is very affordable $45ish, and readily available most and pool stores. It'll test up to 20PPM.

[Steve #1]

Is it acceptable to "cut?" the pool water with distiled water to be able to use the test kit I have now untill I get a better one?

[GraceByDesign]

yes, you may use 2 or 3 parts distilled to one part pool, and multiply your result by 3 or 4, accordingly. You lose some accuracy, but it will get you closer than "well, it looks dark brown"!

This is affectionatly known on this forum as "CarlD's shot glass method"

[knarf#2]

Just curious if you can accomplish the shot gun method by reducing the number of test drops required i.e. for FC my test kit tells me to add 5 drops. What if I only add 1 or 2 drops and multiply accordingly? If this method works it eliminates a step (adding distilled water) and saves on testing liquids.