The first thing to do is this:

But there's a catch--you have to have a good test kit, and use it regularly.
It's taken out of this post:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1113

While it's not out of the question that you might need to use that much borax to raise your ph - I had to use 2 1/2 boxes of borax to raise my ph from 6.9 ppm to about 7.4 ppm for a 14,000 gallon pool - it's never a good idea to add a lot of chemicals without having a better idea on what your chemical levels are. The dipstrips aren't accurate enough for this.

I sprinkle powders and pour liquids into the pool where the water re-enters back into my pool.