If draining water isn't too expensive for you, then if you can drain enough to get your CYa down to that 30-40 range, it really would make it easier on you to keep the pool clear, especially if you're using bleach/liquid chlorine. However, before you do that, I would go a couple of weeks with it at 60 and see how it works out for you. You are in much the same climate as I am in northern Louisiana, and I intentionally keep mine high because I lose a LOT less chlorine that way. Granted, it's harder to get it up to the 20 ppm level to shock, but by the same token you're starting out with a much higher level before you start adding. By keeping it high I find that I can easily maintain my chlorine by the Best Guess Table by making a couple of additions per week, whereas if I keep the CYA lower, it requires daily additions....and I'm as lazy as the next person!

As far as run time goes, my pool is 18 x 36 with 1 HP motor and one skimmer, and I only really need to run it 6-7 hours a day to turn over my water once, which is your goal. In reality, I turn it on when I get up and off when I go to bed so it runs much longer than that, but 10 hours daily should be plenty of time for your pump to run,.

Welcome to the forum!

Janet