The ideal CYA for most pools is around 40-50. CYA sometimes goes away over the winter but not always. However, during the summer, once you get your level where you want it, you are pretty much done with worrying about it for that season.

What ingredient is in the shock you are using? Do you have a reputable pool store that can test a water sample for you? But, don't buy all the stuff they will try to sell you. Usually it just makes things worse.

Until you can get a test kit, you can force your drops-based kit to read higher by using a dilution method described below. It is not meant to replace getting a good kit as it is not super accurate.

Testing Without a Good Kit

In order to test high cl levels, you DO need the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C which is the same kit but with 2-oz. bottles of reagents insead of 0.75 oz. But, their website is down today. Ben talked to them this morning and they do have kits in stock, but you'll have to phone in your order instead of doing it online until their site is back up. The phone number is 800-992-6286.