Watermom,

Thanks. Mbar helped me out 2 years ago when I tried being a pool owner the first time. I was able to avoid it last year but the kids wouldn't let that happen this year so here I am.....With a big 'S' on my forehead for 'Sucker'!

I'm a firm believer in not doing things the same way twice and expecting different results, so... Last time I focused on the Metals, this time I'm going to focus on the sanitation, first, so when I have to lower the FC levels to deal with the Metals, I will at least have handled any bacteria/etc. And I could feel comfortable keeping the FC levels at the 'Best Guess' range without having to bring it to shock again. And the Brown is already there so I know it isn't going anywhere.

So this is what I did:

at around 5:30pm, I added another 1/2 gal of bleach (6%) into the pool to raise the FC back to 'Shock' level. Based on my last dosage and 4pm reading, I figured my FC should go up in the right range.

I just checked at 10pm and my readings are as follows:

FC-13 (drop test-10ml)
CC -0
TC- 13
PH - 7.0
Alk - 110
CYA - 0 (Haven't even tried to play with this)

2 things to note. My PH is very stable (Lovin this). My FC also held much longer then I expected, and I'm sure it is because of 'Non-Sun' at this hour, however I can't wait to see what happens overnight. (please pray for no rain - I can't handle another variable yet)

If my FC holds (shock level-10+-) overnight, I'm going to consider that I have clean/algee/bacteria free water and will let the FC lower throughout the day and Add/see if my Sequestering agent will remove the staining. ( I have a little more Ascorbic Acid left over from 2006 but don't want to add another chemical into the mix at this point).

If the staining disappears (please keep your fingers crossed) I will begin to raise my FC levels with 'Triclor'(Stabalized Chlorine tablets) tabs very slowly to introduce some CYA into the water so my Bleach will have better staying power.

Please let me know if anyone disagrees with this approach and could suggest a better alternative --(besides shooting the pool)