Ok.. let me start by saying that although I am new to posting, I've been "lurking" for quite some time. We were actually considering getting rid of our pool this year, because last year it was such a mess, we never got it clean enough to swim in. Not to mention the hundreds of dollars we spent on the chemicals, etc..

So.. #1, I'd love to say thank you! After reading and re-reading post after post, I've discovered that the BBB method is the best for us. All the chemicals at the pool store are too expensive and most unneeded it seems.. so

So far you guys have helped me take the pool down from pea soup to to a greenish tinted blueish color. So.. let me make extra sure I'm doing this right... I'm in the shocking process. Here are our stats

Above ground Pool w/vinyl liner
Sand filter
12,000 gallons (give or take since we're experiencing a nice rain streak)

Free Available Chlorine 3.0
Total Chlorine 15
Combined Chlorine 0.8
TA 109
PH 7.0
Calcium Hardness 25 (Pool store guy wanted me to add 24lbs of Poolife calcium plus)
Cyanuric Acid 30
Copper 0
Iron 0
Total Dissolved Solids(??) 900
Saturation Index (???) -1.44 (corrosive)

Ok.. that being said.. The shock level has been holding since yesterday afternoon. This afternoon the Free Chlorine was there (wasn't before).

Do I need to go ahead and bring up the PH with Borax while shocking or wait until the pool is clear? There is definitely a big improvement from yesterday to today when we switched to the BBB.. HUGE difference actually. We couldn't see but like the top inch yesterday.. today, I can see the brush on the bottom!! We've been testing and brushing a few times a day...

Anything else I should be doing???

Once again.. THANK YOU so much for all the helpful info!! The information here is so much better than any pool place or any other site!!

Shelley