A quick update on my pool water situation; Friday evening, I added the balance of bleach to my swampy pool water and had a sample tested Saturday morning at a different pool company a few miles away; here are the results:

Free chlorine - 3.3 ppm
total chlorine - 3.7 ppm
combined chlorine - 0.3 ppm
ph - 7.8
hardness - 180 ppm
akalinity - 75 ppm
CYA - OVR 150 ppm
copper - 0.06ppm
nitrates - 80ppm
phosphates - 2500ppb

Their advice was the same as pool company # 1 (drain and refill the pool) due to the high CYA and nitrates. I was surprised to see the chlorine levels looked pretty good, but there was no noticeable improvement in the algae/green color of the water. I was also surprised to see the phosphate levels were so much higher with the new test (they went from 50ppb to 2500ppb); is this a side-effect of using liquid bleach?

I have decided to bite the bullet and have pool company # 1 drain and refill the pool; I just felt I was in over my head trying to fix things and if my family is to have any time in the pool this year, I had best start from scratch with fresh water. They are going to do a full drain of the pool and also clean the plaster (not using acid) for $650 + cost of water. I specifically requested the co-owner of the shop be the one to do the work and I have faith in him (although they did have me fill out a waiver of damages in case the pool "pops")!

I do have one of the recommended Walmart 6-way kits, but figured I'd hold off using it until the new water is in since there are only 2 test of CYA in this kit.

I've got a few questions for you folks now as I prepare for the new water:

1. Is BBB a good choice for the person with limited time to devote to the care of the pool water? My wife and kids can help out with the pool brushing, but taking care of the water itself is up to me. I am leaning towards liquid bleach as my sanitizer method; I have previously used Arm & Hammer baking soda as the alkalinity increaser and it worked like a charm. The liquid bleach certainly got my chlorine levels up quickly last week. If we go with BBB, is there a dosage chart on this site that will let me know how much of each ingredient to add to the new pool water?

2. Since I am starting from scratch now, can I update my pool chart info on your site with the new sanitation choice? I may also adjust the # of gallons as the 36,000 figure was what I was told by the pool builder; I will know the exact capacity once the pool is drained and new water is added.

3. My filter cartridges are a bit discolored after processing all of the algae over the past week; should I just continue to hose them off and use "as-is" with the new water or is there a recommended cleaner to prepare them for use in the new water? (Pool company # 2 recommended using diluted muratic acid to soak the cartridges, but I did not want to go this route without double checking with the folks here.)