Quote Originally Posted by localfinesse
Ok after testing tonight.

CL - bright yellow still high
pH - 7.4
Total Alk - 110
Total Hardness - couldn't get a reading. I had to add 11 drops to get it to turn blue to start.
CYA - is now 60 - 65.

Questions for everybody else now?

How do I get my total hardness down to a readable level?
Why is my CYA dropping so fast? I used pucks for 3 straight weeks about 1 1/2 months ago. Could that have something to do with it?

I currently have a 2 year old Hayward vacuum cleaner. How long do these things last? I was looking at the Hayward phantom tonight. That thing looks very nice. Anybody have one?

One more question not about my pool. If I register to this site for 1 year. Would that get me access to the poolsolutions guides? What does registration get you?

Thanks again to everybody that replied.
1. To get a more accurate reading on your chlorine, have you tried the dilution method? Take one shot glass of pool water and one shot glass of DISTILLED water and use that to test your Cl. Then multiply the number you get by 2. If still to high to read, then change to 2 shots of DISTILLED water to 1 of pool water and mutiply number by 3. Should be able to determine a high Cl level this way.

2. Algae can eat up CYA, and could be why yours is dropping. A reading of 60 is okay. Pucks drive up the CYA, push down the pH. By switching to bleach, you avoid this completely.

3. On the calcium test: I've only used Ben's test kit for this, so if you're using something else I can't help. My advice woud be to take a sample to a pool store if your can, and let them test for this. But don't let them talk you into buying anything. Get numbers, then get out.

Hope this helps.

CaryB