Hmmmm....That would explain why my chlorine remains stable. When I had algae once before, I was constantly adding it to no avail....This time my levels are really staying stable with normal chlorine maintenance...I wonder if there is any way to determine which it is....We do have several junky "scrub" (my husband refers to them as) pine trees and some large blue spruce pines around the pool...

I did go to the local Pools Plus to check my CYA level....However, they would not give me the actual number!!!! He just kept telling me it was "plenty to get me through the season". I told him I had tested it myself and had gotten 30 and he responded that it was "definately more than that now". But, he would not give me the number!?! At last testing (I recently ran out of regeant) I got 30ppm but I added 4lbs of stabilizer since then. I was overshooting 30 because it seemed to bounce down slightly a day or two after I added stablilizer. This way I had hoped to land somewhere in the 30-50 range and begin to shock from there.

They also informed me that my ph was 7.1 which jives with my test results, but that my alk was 73! Which I tested at 100ppm this morning. He suggested I may need to buy new regeant. The stuff I have, I bought from Ben two years ago. Does anyone concur that it's too old? I've never needed to replace the ph regeant and that stills working.... He told me to buy $35 worth of alk increaser (25lb bag) and some ph down because that would jump when I increased the alk....I know I can get baking soda cheaper. Will it really make my ph go so high that I have to decrease it? If I'm at 7.1 right now and possibly battling algae anyway, don't I have some room to let it go up a little, anyhow?

I guess if I treat this debris problem like its algae, and it goes away, I'm good. If it doesn't go away, maybe it IS pollen! Oh, I would LOVE that!

Is it safe to swim in if I'm shocking at 15ppm with a stablizer level between 30-50? Or does this mean I need to keep swimmers out until it falls lower?

Thanks again!