Richard:

Yes, I am manually adding bleach as the source of chlorine. I have an in-line feeder but I stopped using it when I found this site! I have some pucks in the feeder but it is turned off. I did test my well water for CH and there was no trace at all. I did not test for TA though.

My pool is five years old and it does not have a cover. I am in Charlotte, NC and the pool gets direct sun in the morning up through 1:00 PM. I agree that it is unusual to hold the 5 level for this period of time, but your point is well taken in that maybe my level has been above 5 and I just did not know it. I have a Taylor kit (DPD) that only reads up to 5 so maybe it has been at 10 or higher and I have not differentiated the color at these darker levels. Would the FAS-DPD be a better choice?

I moved into this home a year ago and to the best of my knowledge, it has never been replastered. I will follow your advice and try Ben's Lowering Your Alkalinity procedure. Another question, since my spa "feeds into" my pool via a waterfall and the chemistry for a pool is different for a spa, is there a way for me to attain different levels of chemicals for each vessel?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Mike